The Fate of the World
by Sakura-H-U-S-5
Summary: On the fateful mission to Wave, Sakura Haruno realizes that she is the weakest link on her team. Armed with this knowledge, she convinces Kakashi to train her without the rest of the team knowing. But something binds the two - something special - something that they might not share alone. (Cross posted on AO3)
1. It Begins

In the forests of the Land of Waves stood a house. It was an ordinary house, that housed a family of three but it was also temporarily housing extraordinary people; these guests were ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, of Konohagakure. A bit away from the house, the ninja were learning something new from their sensei. They were just recovering from a battle against the missing nin Zabuza Momochi, and the silver haired jonin sensei realized that he needed to teach his three students something else if they want to survive their next run in with Momochi and his accomplice. He told his students that they were going to learn how to climb trees without using their hands.

After demonstrating, he hung upside down on a branch and looked at his three students. He then threw a kunai at their feet. "Use the kunai knife to mark how far you make it up the tree. Then try to get higher the next time and the next time. You're going to need to get a running start at first, until pulling chakra to your feet becomes second nature." He watched as his students concentrated, the ran up trees as fast as they could. The blonde barely made it a couple of steps before sliding down. The black haired boy made it a few more steps before he expelled from the tree. The silver haired jonin stayed expressionless, he expected this from those two.

He was so focused on the two boys that he completely missed his last genin, a pink haired little slip of a thing, running up the tree perfectly her first time, until she giggled, "That was fun!"

The two boys on the ground looked at her in surprise while their teacher praised, "Well, looks like the female member of the squad has the most advanced chakra control. Well done, Sakura."

Sakura beamed, happy with the praise of her senses, while two boys looked on enviously, the blonde masking it better than the black haired boy. "We spoke of someone becoming Hokage one day, weren't we Naruto?" The blonde's look soured. "And as for the great Uchiha clan, maybe they're not so great after all." The black haired boy's face remained stoic but his eyes blazed in anger.

Sakura's face flushed, "Shut up, Kakashi-sensei! You're not helping!" She risked a glance at the black haired boy. _Great. Now Sasuke's gonna be mad at me!_

She started paying attention when Kakashi mentioned her name, "...and Sakura will go watch over Tazuna and make sure nothing happens while he's working on the bridge." Sakura looked at he sensei in shock, but kept her mouth shut and followed her sensei back toward the house. When they got out of earshot, Sakura stopped her sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course you can, Sakura, that is part of my job as your sensei." Kakashi smiled, although she couldn't really tell from under the mask he wears all the time.

Sakura took a deep breath to gather her courage. _You're a ninja, Sakura. Take a leap of faith once in awhile._ "I don't want to watch Tazuna, I want to train. You and I know perfectly well that you can just create a clone to go with him. Naruto and Sasuke are still training, and like always, I'm pushed to the side and I'm sick of it."

Kakashi paused, slightly surprised. He was a genius in his own right, but sometimes his cute little genin managed to surprise him. He knew that Sakura would eventually get frustrated with him, but he never expected it to be so soon. He knew that he wasn't the best teacher, but with the last Uchiha loyal to the village and the kyuubi's jinchūriki on his team, he didn't really have time to focus on a civilian raised girl if she wasn't serious. "Oh? And what do you plan to do about it?"

"I'm not stupid Kakashi-sensei, far from it. I competed for the top spot at the Academy and won against Shikamaru Nara, a certified genius. I might not be a chakra powerhouse like Naruto, nor as advanced as Sasuke, but I know research." Here Sakura paused and licked her lips. Unconsciously, her thumb brought in her middle finger in a nervous gesture. She knew that she needed to completely trust her sensei if she was to catch up to her teammates, but what she did could get her in a lot of trouble.

Kakashi noticed her nervousness, "Sakura...what did you do?" He felt a tinge of fear, even though he knew that he never messed up, no one else knew, so how could she?

Sakura looked down, "I...I looked you up when you first accepted us as your team. I might have looked in places I wasn't supposed to?" She smiled apprehensively at Kakashi. She rushed on, "Well if they didn't want a genin to know, they should have put better security. Anyway, I know that we're your first team ever training and I get it, okay? I know that I'm nothing special compared to Naruto and Sasuke, but," here, she took a calming breath, "after what happened with Zabuza, I realized that I need to get stronger and that chasing after Sasuke isn't the way to do it." Sakura refused to look away, steady and sure in her resolve. "I know that if you suddenly start showing interest in my training, Sasuke's ego will be bruised and take it out on everyone and Naruto is just getting some attention, and suddenly taking some of it away will not do him any good. So, I propose that you train me in secret, away from them. It's the only way, and you know it."

Kakashi looked at her in silence, then, "You realize that if I train you seriously, then I expect more from you from even Naruto. They have an advantage over you now, and you need to catch up."

"I know." Her look never changed. "What's the next step after tree climbing?"

Kakashi's visible eye glinted with almost sadistic glee and Sakura shuddered. "Water walking."

Kakashi left a clone with Naruto and Sasuke, and one with their client, the bridge builder Tazuna, and took Sakura to a nearby lake. "All you have to do is to draw chakra to your feet like before, but you have to account for every ripple of water. As you showed, you have near perfect chakra control and some stamina, this should be relatively easy for you."

Sakura thought that he sounded far too gleeful for this to be any fun for her, but she knew she had to take this seriously. She took a breath and put her foot on the water. She immediately felt a sense of calm that she didn't have before. She always loved water and had a sense that water seemed to love her too. When she was little, she used to make the bath water follow what she wanted, usually to splash her parents. The memories flowed as she stepped onto the water and stayed afloat, the water holding her feet to the surface like she wanted it to.

Kakashi's eye sharpened. He recognized the way the water moved around her as the same way fire moved around him, welcoming him, embracing him. He wasn't going to bring it up until they were out of enemy territory however, he never knew who could be listening. He threw a kunai at her and watched her try and dodge. "Don't do that. Don't will it to happen, use your chakra." Sakura looked at him in muted shock, her concentration broken and she fell in the water. She wanted to say something but remembered where they were. She nodded and tried again, this time using her chakra and let the water flow naturally. On her fifth attempt, she managed to stay afloat for more than five minutes, but used up her chakra reserves.

Kakashi and Sakura walked back to the house and met up with Sasuke and Naruto, the latter of which tried to get Sakura to go out with him. Her first instinct was to yell at him, as she had been doing for years now, but something stopped her this time. For the first time, she noticed the half resigned half hopeful look in his eyes, the kind of look that says that he knows what she's going to say but hopes of God that she won't. Giving her blonde teammate a considering look she replied, "Ask me again when we get back home and I might say yes."

Naruto stuttered to a stop, gaping at Sakura in unconcealed shock. She felt guilt course through her body. She had never given him the time of day before as she had always been obsessed with Sasuke. She glanced at Sasuke from out of the corner of her eye and noticed his surprise before he was able to mask it. Naruto then gave Sakura the biggest smile she had ever even from him. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! I'll hold you to it!" Sakura smiled at him and walked inside the house, for once feeling confident in her decisions that day.

The days passed in this manner; Kakashi would make clones to follow Tazuna to work, secretly watching Naruto and Sasuke, who were making slow but steady progress with tree climbing, and training Sakura in secret. After mastering water walking after another day, Kakashi remembered something. With Sakura's perfect chakra control, she would be an excellent genjutsu specialist. However, if his hunch about her is correct, then creating genjustus wouldn't be her strong point, but breaking them is.

The next morning found Kakashi and Sakura back at the lake, however, Kakashi was going to do things a little differently. "You know how to break a genjutsu, I'm assuming. It's part of the requirements to become a genin. But can you break one without using any handsigns?"

"I didn't even know that was possible."

"It's not... technically, but I can do it. And so will you."

"W-What?"

"All you have to do is disrupt your chakra just enough to break it, but not enough for the user to notice." Noticing his students nervousness, he added, "Don't worry, I'm only going to be using the Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique. It's a D-rank level genjutsu. And don't worry about not getting it on your first try, it's a very advanced technique that I know you can do it." Sakura's face lost its nervousness at his commendation and nodded sharply and readied herself. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask and put her under. He knew that this was the beginning of something amazing.


	2. Fighting Starts

Sakura was panting harder than she ever had before. In all of her thirteen years of life, she had never worked as hard as she was now - not even for Sasuke! The last few days have been the hardest of her life, but she couldn't be happier. She already learned how to water walk without using her connection to water - and how Kakashi-sensei noticed that, she didn't know, but she knew better than to ask about it in Wave - and she was starting to get the hang of dispelling genjutsu without a handsign, it only took her until the middle of the next day, and that's only because Inner Sakura was helping as much as she could.

" **You know, this is a lot harder than it looks.** " Inner panted out. She had really been the one who figured out how to do it through trial and error, with Sakura giving out pointers. Then because Inner could do it, Sakura was able to do it so much easier. That's how their relationship worked, Sakura was the brains and had control while Inner brute forced her way to victory and was able to go into Sakura's subconscious and grab any information that Sakura couldn't remember on her own.

"Sorry, Inner. But I have to do this, you know I do," Sakura insisted in her head. She learned a long time ago to not answer Inner out loud, otherwise people seemed to think she was crazy.

" **I know, but that doesn't mean I like doing all this work.** " While she was speaking, she guided her outer personality to break the genjutsu they've been under for about five minutes. Sakura followed the now familiar routine and Kakashi-sensei shimmered into focus.

"Good job, that was faster than before. Now, we take a little break, and start meditating to bring up your chakra reserves. Well, you are, I'm going to take care of Sasuke." Kakashi-sensei said, "He just made it to the top of the tree, so I'm going to go tell him to watch after Tazuna." Here Kakashi-sensei looked at Sakura, eye sharp but voice pleasant, "Don't move. Just meditate." Kakashi-sensei then disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Sakura collapsed on the ground, her energy spent as Inner did the same in her head. That was exhausting. Sakura smiled through her exhaustion, proud of her accomplishment. She silently thanked Inner, and Inner retreated further into Sakura's mind to let her concentrate. Sakura was tempted to go into the water in front of her, but refrained. You never knew who could be watching. Crossing her legs, Sakura took a steadying breath and started to meditate. She let her mind wander and her chakra flow around her.

Her first thought was, of course, Sasuke Uchiha, the love of her life. Or, at least, she thought he was the love of her life. After all, she gave up Ino, her first friend and the most important person in her life at the time, for him. Every girl liked him, once they got over the cootie phase, even some of the boys. Sasuke was cute and mysterious, but incredibly mean and rude. His personality didn't really bother her that much until she was put on a team with him. His hostility to everyone proved to be a hindrance to the teamwork that Team 7 was supposed to be building, even to their admittedly lazy sensei. At least, at first. He still didn't really get along with the rest of the team, but at least now he tolerates them and cares if they get hurt. His goal is to get stronger so that he can "kill a certain man", but Sasuke refused to accept the help he desperately needs because, if he wants to kill the man Sakura thinks he means, then he needs all the help he can get. Everyone in Konoha knows that Itachi Uchiha snapped and murdered his entire clan other than his brother, Sasuke, and from her research on Kakashi-sensei, Sakura knows that Itachi was on Kakashi's ANBU team - and maybe she lied to Kakashi-sensei when she told him where she got her information, but he should know a lie when he hears one.

From there, her thoughts turned to her other teammate, Naruto Uzumaki - the boy that, until recently, she hated with a passion. She doesn't really know why she hated him, but all of the adults did, including her parents, and they were always right. At least, she thought that they were always right, it's what she's been told for her entire life. She asked around once, why everyone hated Naruto to, but all they could tell her was that it's forbidden to speak of it. Sakura knew that the Kyuubi attacked and the Yondaime died the year she and her classmates were born, killing thousands of people. And she knew that it disappeared in October, but that was it. Any information that she could possibly get was either redacted or confidential, more so than Kakashi-sensei's file. This, more than anything made her more suspicious, but what could she do? Sure, Naruto was annoying and loud, but he was also kind, loyal, and most importantly, lonely. Sakura recognized the look in his eye, the one that said that he will do anything for attention, even if it's negative attention, because she saw it in herself.

Sakura's parents were strict and borderline negligent. Her father was the CEO of a successful electronics company and her mother was a traditional strict housewife. Her father's company is the reason why Konoha is so advanced compared to the other Hidden Villages, and so, he has a seat on the Civilian Counsel. Sakura was originally supposed to grow up to be just like her mother, but her parents couldn't have any more children after her, so she was reluctantly raised to be the heir. She was expected to marry a second son of a wealthy civilian family, then hand the company off to him while she became her mother; that plan got derailed when she met Ino. Being friends with Ino gave Sakura the confidence to join the Academy, despite her parents wishes. Sakura knew that she was a bad friend, to Ino, Naruto and Sasuke; but she vowed to do better. She knew her feelings for Sasuke and Naruto were different than what she felt for Ino. Ino was her first friend, the only person to help build up her confidence, but she was more than a sister. What Ino was to Sakura, she didn't know, but hoped Ino felt the same way about her; Naruto and Sasuke were her teammates, her brothers, and she would protect them like how they protect her.

Kakashi looked at his meditating student who was oblivious to his presence, and frowned. While he already taught her things well before he ever thought he would, it didn't prepare her for the upcoming battle with Zabuza that he felt was going to happen. Kakashi knew that Sakura's best chance against Zabuza, or anyone right now, was the element of surprise, what with her bright pink hair, too innocent green eyes and small stature. He felt that time was running out and that he needed to teach her something that she could use soon.

"Sakura."

Sakura flinched and opened her eyes to look at him. "What is it Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm going to teach you how to use what we both know you can do to your advantage." Sakura's eyes widened, remembering that he knew about her ability with water, and nodded.

"First, we'll see about using mist…"

The next day, Kakashi and Sakura met up with Sasuke to go with Tazuna to the bridge, as a reward for completing the training he gave them while Naruto was resting after spending too much chakra trying to tree climb. Of course, something was bound to happen when they finally went together. When they got to the bridge, they found the other workers either dead or injured.

"What it this?" Tazuna gasped. "Something happened! Who did this?"

A mist suddenly appeared around the group of four, alerting Kakashi to their company. "This mist. Sasuke, Sakura, get ready!" The two genin got into position and took out their kunai.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi." A deep voice rang out, cutting through the mist. " I see you still got those brats with you. That one's still trembling." Sasuke tried to get his hand to stop, "Pathetic." Suddenly, seven Zabuza's surrounded them.

Sasuke smirked. "I'm trembling with...excitement." Sakura rolled her eyes at his dramatics. She can't believe that she thought he was super cool, when in reality, he's a pretty big nerd.

"Go on, Sasuke, Sakura." Sasuke lashed out at the four closest to him while Sakura took out the others. If Sasuke was surprised, he didn't show it. The Zabuza's turned into water and fell to the ground in one giant puddle.

"So, both of your students could tell those were water clones. Impressive. Looks like Haku might have some competition after all." Zabuza appeared with the hunter nin that supposedly killed him. After some more banter between Kakashi and Zabuza, Haku charged forward, aiming for Tazuna, but was met by Sasuke's kunai.

"Sakura!" Kakashi never looked away from Zabuza, "Protect our client at all costs! Let Sasuke handle Haku!" Sakura purses her lips in displeasure, but nodded. Sakura watched as Haku and Sasuke continued to fight while hearing Zabuza continue to be as dramatic as possible. Then Haku called out a jutsu and glass started forming around Sasuke. She felt useless, again. What was the point of training if she was still on the sidelines?

" **Honestly, Outer? Do I have spell it out for you?** " Inner Sakura's chimed in, sounding annoyed. " **You already know what you have to do. It's as Kakashi-sensei said. Protect at all costs.** "

"Wow, Inner. You really know how to put things into perspective." Sakura rolled her eyes again. But she understood without Inner having to explicitly say it. But before she could do anything, Zabuza unsheathed his sword and attacked. Kakashi quickly refocused on Zabuza and countered with a kunai.

" **Really? A kunai? That's so lame.** "

"Inner, shut up."

" **Okay, okay…** " Inner retreated to Sakura's inner mind. The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air as both battles raged on. Naruto then appeared out of nowhere and went to help Sasuke, completely ignoring Sakura. She understood, she would do the same if she could, and she will. She might not be able to move from her position, but she could still help out if she could.

She took a deep, steadying breath and let her mind expand. She could feel the water that made up the mist listen to her call, the mist around Haku became denser as the mist around Naruto and Sasuke became to clear a little. She couldn't do too much or they would start to suspect something was amiss. Just then, Zabuza appeared and swung his sword. In a panic, Sakura forced the water to slow down the sword enough for her to push Tazuna out of the way and for herself to duck under it, grabbing the handle and twisting, using the water to make his hands slip and let go. Kakashi then grabbed Zabuza and forced him away.

The four stopped, looking at the heavy sword in her hands. Zabuza's eyes, the only part of his face they could see, were both angry and intrigued. Kakashi was surprised and cautious while Tazuna was just glad he was still alive. Sakura, panting, looked at the giant sword and braced herself; she knew what she had to do, she's known it since the first time they met Zabuza how this was going to end. It was either him or her, and she chose herself. Zabuza lunged, trying to get back his sword and Sakura raised it with all her might and swung.


	3. The Aftermath

Chapter 3

Sakura was splattered with blood, the sword, drenched in it. Her eyes widened at the picture in front of her. Zabuza's eyes were wide as he looked down at the sword, Kakashi had moved behind him and was restraining Zabuza with the help of some nin dogs Kakashi had summoned. But what was the most shocking was where the sword ended up. Haku, now without his mask, was in front of Zabuza with the giant sword cut into his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip. Sakura risked a glance at Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke was lying on the ground, multiple senbon sticking out of him and Naruto was… Naruto was encased in angry red chakra which was swirling around him. Her analytical mind saved this memory for later as Inner Sakura took the DVD her mind produced and put it next to her. As Haku made a choking noise in front of her, she returned her attention to him. "Wha...?"

"Haku," Zabuza growled out, "why run from your fight to save mine?"

"You raised me… you took me in...when my family was murdered." Haku breathed out. He looked Sakura in the eyes, "I would do anything for him...even give my own life."

Sakura was on the edge of panic. She knew that if she let it consume her, she would go into shock and would be of no help here; this is the very reason the Academy forced them to learn how to compartmentalize. So she took a breath and stumbled back, pulled the sword out of Haku and dropped it. Haku dropped to the ground in a heavy thump, barely breathing. Naruto came into view, no longer bleeding red chakra and stared down at Haku's body. "Naruto...how's Sasuke?" Naruto didn't answer her, and Sakura's eyes welled with tears, "No...no, he can't be. He just can't!"

She heard Zabuza say something but was unable to process it. Sasuke couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be! She refused to let him die! As she ran toward Sasuke, she distantly heard Naruto yelling at Zabuza, about what she didn't know. Her entire focus was on Sasuke's still form. As she collapsed near him and put a hand on his neck to feel for a pulse, she heard fighting and felt Kakashi's hand on her shoulder. She remembered the first rule of being a shinobi: to never let your emotions show on your face, but right then, she didn't care. The boy she loved, her brother, was dead.

Naruto came to kneel on Sasuke's other side, and they were united in their grief. When he put his hand on hers, Sakura felt his chakra move through her hand and into Sasuke. Sasuke then twitched and gasped once before opening his red eyes and coughing. "Sasuke!" They both yelled and pulled him up to hug him, despite Sasuke's mutterings to get off him.

As the snow started to fall, Sakura let go of Sasuke and looked around. All around her were bodies, bodies that Zabuza must have killed, considering his numerous injuries and the fact that he only had a kunai made him all the more impressive. She walked over to where he laid down next to Haku, picking up his sword along the way, and knelt beside him as he stroked Haku's face. "I think this is yours." She placed the sword by his other hand.

"Not anymore, girly," he grunted, "Once a Seven Swordsman is bested by their own sword, it's not theirs anymore. Kubikiribōchō belongs to you now. She won't listen to anyone else unless someone takes her from you in battle."

Sakura's breath stuttered. The Seversword was hers now? But she wasn't a swordswoman; she didn't have the proper training for this! _That...that can't be right? Inner_? But Inner was silent.

Zabuza turned his gaze back to Haku, "I wish I could join you, wherever you go...Haku." And Zabuza breathed no more.

With Gato, the man who hired Zabuza, gone and after burying the missing nin and his adopted son together on a hill, Kakashi forced his genin back to Tazuna's house. There was no way that the bridge could be worked on today and his students were far too injured. Sasuke just came back from the dead, miraclely, Naruto had weakened the seal that kept the kyuubi under control, and Sakura just had her first kill. _This was supposed to be an easy C-rank mission_ , Kakashi despaired, _and now look at the mess I have to deal with_.

The first thing he did was to get Naruto to rest which was a challenge in itself. Then, he used some rudimentary medical care that he picked up at his many forced trips to the hospital on Sasuke, made sure that the Sharingan was ok and that he could deactivate it and sent him to bed, which is when Naruto allowed himself to be put to bed, then went and focused on his more pressing matter - Sakura's mental state. He himself had made his first kill at an earlier age than her, but he will be the first to admit that he was not completely healthy.

He knocked on Sakura's door and waited for her to allow him in. When he walked in, he noticed Zabuza's sword leaning on the wall next to her bed. He knew that she had spoken to Zabuza before he died, but he didn't think that he would give her his sword. Sakura followed his gaze, "Zabuza said that she's mine now, because I took it off of him in a fight. But I," here her voice broke, "How can I use this sword when I already killed someone with it. I keep seeing it tear into Haku and I just can't…" she burst into tears.

Kakashi silently swore; he didn't know how to handle crying people, never have. Bracing himself, he went up to her and sat on the bed next to her. Hesitantly, he raised his arm to wrap around her shoulder and she burrowed her face in his chest and continued to sob. He wrapped both arms around her and held her as she cried, unconsciously rocking slightly and rubbing the back of her neck from her hairline to slightly down her back.

Once she stopped crying as hard, he whispered, "I was seven when I had my first. I was already a chūnin and my team and I were taking a C-rank mission. I don't even remember what it was about, but I will always remember what happened on our way home. We were attacked by bandits and. I didn't have a choice, it was me or her. And I chose me." Sakura looked up at him through red rimmed eyes, sniffling. "Our job doesn't teach us how to deal with doing what is necessary, only to hold everything in, but we as humans can't do that or we go crazy. You need to come up with a hobby, a way to deal with what you have to do. You don't have to come up with it now, but by the time we get home, you need to tell me. Because, I have to tell the Hokage about what happened and he would want you to do a psychological evaluation."

Sakura nodded, "Does," she cleared her throat before starting again, "Does it get easier?"

Kakashi gently grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look at him. "If it ever gets easy to kill, then we have a problem. You're supposed to feel for every kill, you tell me if it gets easy or you don't feel anything anymore, okay?"

"Okay Kakashi-sensei...and thank you"

On the way back to Konoha, Sakura was thinking. She had a lot to think about: the red chakra that surrounded Naruto, the new sword and her new hobby that she had to tell Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke and Naruto were the usual selves, minus acting slightly differently around Sakura, but she understood why. Sakura had Inner play the memory so that she could analyze every detail. She knew that Naruto's chakra didn't normally show up as red, but as a pale blue, and chakra color didn't just change with emotions. She would have to wait until she got back to Konoha to think about this more, because she needed to write everything down and think.

Next, she thought about Kubikiribōchō, the Seversword. That was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist's swords. The sword was currently sealed in a scroll by Kakashi-sensei, so that it would not attract attention. She could barely carry the sword, let alone use it properly. Last time, the water made it lighter and invigorated her muscles enough to swing the sword with enough for to… she couldn't finish he thought.

To get away from that line of thinking, she thought about what type of hobby she would enjoy, she wanted something that would take her mind off of things. She needed her mind to be engaged more than her body because that was her best feature. She loves puzzles, always has, especially with her grandmother whenever she can. "Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Naruto?"

"Yes, Sakura?" Said Naruto while Sasuke grunted and Kakashi hummed.

"When we get back to Konoha, wanna build a puzzle?"

Sakura caught Kakashi's eye while Naruto began yelling about how great of an idea that was ("Of course it was a great idea, Sakura-can made it!") and Sasuke grunted in affirmative again, and she knew that he knew that she was okay for now.


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**So...I did some world building...idk how you all will feel about it, but I felt that more people needed representation. So basically, Konoha is Japan, Common is English, and Riverian is Spanish.**

Chapter 4

"So let me see if I understand this correctly." Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were standing in front of the Hokage with Kakashi standing behind them. The Hokage continued, "The C-rank mission ended up turning into a B-rank mission when you were confronted by the Demon Brothers, then was bumped up to an A-rank mission when confronted by Zabuza Momochi, who you were then tricked into believing he's dead. Then you trained on things you should've already known all the while, Zabuza is not dead, but in fact has a partner. Then when everyone meets up, you all separate and the battle ends with Sakura somehow disarming Zabuza and killing Haku," here Sakura flinched, "Sasuke in a deathlike state, Naruto screaming at Zabuza then Zabuza killing the man he was working for and everything worked out in the end?"

There was a pause then,

"Uh-huh"

"Yup"

"Yes, sir"

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"...why is it always Team Seven? Why is every Team Seven dramatic?"

"Sir?" The three genin were confused.

"Never mind," the old man sighed, resigned to his fate. "You may go."

As Team Seven turned to go, Naruto thought of something. "Hey, oyaji, what did they name the bridge again?"

"The Great Liberty Bridge. Seeing as you helped liberate them from Gato, I can see why they named it that."

As the team left the Hokage's office to go to the ramen shop Naruto insisted on going to, Sakura hung back with Kakashi. "I thought you said that the Hokage was going to order a psych evaluation. That didn't seem like one to me."

"But it was. He tested to see how you would react to a callous interpretation of Haku's death. You passed, don't worry." Kakashi patted her head. "Why didn't you tell him about the sword?"

"Why didn't you?" Sakura shot back, but they both knew the answer. None of them wanted to give Sakura any unwanted interest for having a legendary sword in her possession. While they trusted the Hokage, Kakashi didn't quite trust some of the elders, and Sakura took his que.

Kakashi sighed, "You need to learn how to sword fight, both with that sword and without it, if you want to keep it a secret. Lucky for you, I know just the guy."

"Who?"

"Me." Kakashi's eye glinted. "What did my file not say anything about swords?" Although he sounded innocent enough, Sakura knew she was screwed.

The next few days pays passed as such: Naruto and Sasuke would soar with a Kakashi clone keeping an eye out for them, making sure the two boys didn't kill each other or went too far, while the real Kakashi was teaching Sakura how to sword fight. But first, they had to go shopping.

Despite it stereotype that girls love shopping, Sakura hated it. Her body just started to change, so her breasts are getting bigger, her shoulders are broad, she has a short torso and short legs, and her thighs are big with muscles and she has no butt. With her pink hair and green eyes, it's hard for her to find something that she looks good in. But, her dress is made for fashion, not practicality. She needed an outfit to fight in. So, she

convinced (i.e. She made pretty eyes and nearly cried) Kakashi into going shopping with her.

She wanted to keep some red and, with his help was able to get a long sleeve black reinforced mesh shirt with a red tank top underneath, a black sports skirt. The also got black knee pads and elbow pads, why know one else ever really wore them was a mystery to her. Then she had Kakashi wait outside while she went and bought some sports bras and hair ties while she was there.

With that out of the way, they went and finally did what they went to the shopping district for: weapons, specifically, swords.

"If you don't want to use the one you have, then we have to get you another one." Kakashi's voice rang through the store as he, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, who they picked up after getting her clothes, walked in. All three browsed the whole shop before they split off. Sasuke wandered toward the chains, Naruto towards the hand weapons and Sakura towards the swords. Sasuke eventually settled on the manriki-kusari, or the ten thousand power chain. He liked anything that would give him an edge, and having strong chains that could hold down enemies would help. Naruto, as a short range fighter, chose the tekko-kagi, the claws of death. As he and Sasuke fought over who would win with their new weapons, Sakura was still deciding between sai's or kodachi, but settled on a kodachi.

Kakashi raised his brow, "Are you sure? That's a lot smaller than the other one."

She nodded. "The other one will be a last resort type of thing."

Kakashi sighed, "You sure don't make things easy, do you?" Sakura just smiled in response while he paid for the orders, but that's okay, he wasn't really expecting a response anyway.

That night Sakura came home to her household in a frenzy. Apparently, her father's estranged cousins are coming from the Land of Rivers and expect to stay at her house. Sakura's parents had immigrated to Konoha when they were children, so she had never met her cousins before as her parents hadn't heard from them in years. And of course, coming from Rivers, they didn't speak Konohian, only Common and Riverian. Sakura barely spoke Riverian, so she was going to have her work cut out for her.

"Óyeme, Niña!(1) What did I just tell you to do!" Sakura's mother's voice was heard throughout the house.

"Mamá, I told you that I just got home from a mission. Let me put my stuff down and I'll help you."

"Que suerte tengo yo! Nadie me ayuda a limpiar! Mi hija se va a matar a la gente antes de pensar en su pobre madre, solo para limpiar la casa porque tenemos familia viniendo!"(2)

"Mamá! Por favor(3), I have sharp objects on my body and I would like to put them way!"

"Oh, tienes objetos afilados! Me estás amenazando, niña?"(4)

"No, that's not-"

"¡Mi hija me odia tanto que quiere matarme!"(5)

Deciding that ignoring her mother was the best choice for her to do, unless she wanted to prove her mother right, Sakura went to her room to put her mission things away as well as her new belongings. She sighed before going to help her mother clean up for her cousins that weren't even going to show up until next week. After, she was so tired that she immediately fell asleep the minute she collapsed on the bed. Thank Dios that there was no training tomorrow.

Translations:

1) Listen to me, girl.

2) How lucky I am! No one helps me clean! My daughter is going to kill people before thinking about her poor mother, just to clean the house because we have family coming!

3) Please

4) Oh, you have sharp objects! Are you threatening me, girl?

5) My daughter hates me so much she wants to kill me!


	5. The Plot Thickens

Chapter 5

The first thing Sakura did when she woke was her out her journal and wrote down everything that happened during the mission from start to finish. She hesitated when it came to her battle, but powered through it. But before she could do anything else, her mother called her downstairs to eat breakfast.

When she got downstairs, her father was still home and sitting at the table. Doing a mental count to figure out what day it was, she realized that it was Sunday. Sakura was surprised her mother didn't get her up for church, but then noticed it was only eight am, still plenty of time to go. As Sakura went to go help herself to some food, her father made his usual comment. "So, niña. Are you ready to stop pretending to be a ninja?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip and pursed her lips. "No, papá. I'm not pretending to be a ninja, I am one and you know that."

"I can always call in a favor, you know."

"Papá-!"

"Eso es suficiente."(1) Sakura's mother cut in, a stern look on her face.

"Mira, María. No quiero que nuestra hija haga algo de lo que se arrepentirá. Quiero decir, ella tendrá que correr la compañía tarde o temprano, así que tiene que empezar ahora." (2)

"But that's not the way to do it and you know it, mi amor." (3)

Sakura ate faster. While it was nice to know her parents loved each other, she didn't want to see it. "May I be excused?" Her father looked at her plate and deemed it acceptably empty.

As Sakura was about to go upstairs, her mother's voice rang out in Common. "And where are you going in such a hurry? Hopefully to church to repent for what you did."

Sakura stopped but beyond that, didn't react. Her mother could smell guilt from a mile away and her father would never excuse a weakness of any kind. " No puede hoy. (4) Kakashi-sensei gave us some extra training today." Sakura's parents didn't say anything, so she took that as her cue to leave.

Back in her room, Sakura took out another journal, this time, one with more security. This journal was full of every piece confidential information that she was able to obtain, either by asking around or by stealing, like what she did with Kakashi-sensei's file. After making sure her room was secure, she undid the seal and opened the journal. Turning to the page on Naruto, she added what she observed in the mission. Then, she looked at all the information she had.

She knew that the adults in the village hated Naruto with a passion - even her own parents who had pitched a fit to the Hokage when hey found out he was her teammate - with no real reason. She then concluded that something must have happened because of him that affected the whole village and the only thing she could find was the Kyuubi attack the year her class was born, but whenever she asked about it, everyone got tight lipped, same as when she asked about why they hate Naruto. So, she went into the Civilian Counsel room, which she was able to get into because of her father - sometimes family connections come in handy - and snuck around until she got to the record books. That's when she found out that the Hokage had placed a nondisclosure law that forbade everyone from talking about the Kyuubi attack.

She didn't know the exact date the Kyuubi disappeared because it was suspiciously absent in all the history books she was able to get a hold of, but she knew it had to be later in the year, because of baby pictures. The backgrounds of the pictures are normal until they get to sometime in October, then there seems to be a lot of construction going on in the background.

She then wrote down everything that was odd about Naruto. He had birthmarks that looked a lot like whiskers, she felt them once, after the bell test she had wiped his face and felt the whiskers by accident. They were more rough than expected, considering they're birthmarks, almost like they were burned into him, but that's not the case. He also had that strange healing factor of his. His healing is not natural, she knew that, it was way too fast. As soon as he's hurt he's healed most of the time. She didn't know anything or anyone that could do that, except one - the Kyuubi. She flipped back to Kakashi's file to double checked she remembered right, even though she had photographic memory thanks to Inner. And there it was, plain as day it said that Kakashi had reported that the Kyuubi never slowed with any attack that was thrown at it and that, if hurt, it would heal in like nothing had happened.

But the final thing that forced Sakura to admit what she'd been denying herself was the red chakra that was unleashed in Wave. Naruto's chakra was as blue as hers was real. The red, the red scared her. It felt angry, evil almost. At that moment, Sakura was scared of Naruto. She didn't feel it at the time, as she was in shock, but it was there. And now she realized why.

"Oh my God. Naruto's the Kyuubi."

"You can't be serious."

"And why not?" Kakashi stared at the Hokage for a while.

"Because your students are not ready."

Kakashi was tempted to scoff, but refrained. "Why aren't they ready? Is it because they're rookies? Don't forget that you've accepted the nominations of at least three different rookie teams. Why is mine so different?"

The Hokage sighed. "Are you sure they're ready?" Kakashi just stared back, resolute. "Very well, you are dismissed."

He left the Hokage's office through the window and made his way to the training ground. There he found his team. Naruto was complaining as usual and Sasuke was brooding as always, but Sakura was looking at Naruto in consideration.

i"I'm not stupid, Kakashi-sensei."/i

Sakura's voice went through his head. He needed to have a talk with her about what that brilliant brain of hers figured out before she told someone she wasn't supposed to.

As he appeared in front of them, he held up his hand to stop the barrage of complaints that were to be lodged in his direction for his tardiness, and announced, "You three are going to take the Chūnin Exams next month."

Three blank looks met his statement. Kakashi smirked under his mask. iThree. Two. One./i

"WHAT?!"

Translations

1)That's enough.

2)Look, Maria. I just don't want our daughter to do something she'll regret. I mean, she's going to have to run the company sooner or later, so she has to get started now.

3)My love.

4)I can't today.


	6. Closer to Danger

**So. I told myself that I wasn't going to do this, but here I go. Peeps, I need reviews. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love everyone who favorited and followed, but I need some feedback in order to know what you guys want. I'm doing this story for your entertainment, just as much a son I'm doing it because I want to. So, please review. Anyway more World building and Sunic=Arabic. And BTW, all of the translations in this fic will come from Google Translate, unless anyone is willing to help!**

Chapter 6

Sakura couldn't speak. After the revelation about Naruto, Kakashi-sensei threw another one at her! As Kakashi-sensei explained what the Cūnin Exams were to Naruto, she glanced at Sasuke. Although she knew that she was not in love with him, she still loved him and valued his opinion. "So, Sasuke, what do you think? Do you think we're ready?"

Sasuke spared her a glance. "Hn. If we're not ready, then no one else is."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Sasuke." The two genin looked at their sensei, who was looking at them seriously. "The other teams are Teams 8 and 10. They have seven clan heirs in total, not to mention the spare of the Inuzuka Clan. They are not to be taken lightly. They all got double the training you did, simply because of their status and now all of you have to play catch up in a month. That's why," here Kakashi-sensei took out three scrolls and tossed them to their respective owners, "I went and got the weapons you ordered." His visible eye hardened. "You are the first team I ever passed. Don't let me down."

The three teenagers looked at each other and nodded in grim determination. They would not shame their sensei in front of the shinobi world. As they took out their weapons, Kakashi-sensei made clones so that everyone would get one on one training. Although he told them that he was not a master of all of their weapons, Kakashi-sensei said that he would train them to the best of his ability, and if they needed more specialized training, he would get it for them.

The one on one training proved to bring positive results. Sasuke was learning how to better control the Sharingan, Naruto learned how to begin to moderate how much chakra he was using, and to not use the red chakra for as long as he can hold out. Sakura's training was different than the boys, Kakashi had pulled her aside the first day while the boys were training, put a genjutsu around the area and waited for Sakura to pulse her chakra and break it, this time taking less than a minute (she had been practicing) and confessed.

"I saw the water help you in Wave, both at the lake and again on the bridge." At Sakura's panic stricken look, he quickly added, "Don't worry, the boys didn't see and neither did Tazuna. If anyone else saw, it would have been Zabuza and Haku and they're dead."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why didn't you tell the Hokage? I would think that any loyal Konoha nin would." She panicked slightly, realizing how her comment could sound. "That's not to say you aren't loyal, but…"

"I know, Sakura. The reason why I didn't tell him is because," here he hesitated before putting out his hand out in front and let his fire out. It sat harmlessly in the palm of his hand like always, flickering with life, "fire is as much mine as water is yours."

Sakura stared, fascinated by the flame. Then she raised her hand up to her chest, palm facing out and twirled her fingers, gathering the moisture in the air from the humidity, as she turned her wrist so that her palm is how facing up. A ball of water appeared in her hand, and she looked at it, feeling at peace once again. They were silent for a while, both reflecting on their situation. Sakura broke the silence. "So...what now?"

"Now, we train. You need to learn how to properly control your power, that is, make it work for you on your terms, not its terms. Water is volatile and ever changing, and cannot be. You must redirect it to do whatever you want. You also need to learn how to use the Seversword. Just because it's not going to be your main sword, it is still yours." Sakura was apprehensive but nodded.

And that's how it went. For a month the three honed the skills they already knew, got a feel for their weapons and learned a few attacks that worked together or separate from each other. Along the way, they learned the teamwork that they should have had along. Naruto learned to not blurt out every idea he had, Sasuke learned to take his teammates suggestions seriously and Sakura learned that using her brain would help make better plans and that reacting in anger is not usually the best course of action.

One day after training, Sakura took Naruto up on his lunch offer and went to Ichiraku's, Naruto's favorite ramen place. Naruto tried to pay, but she refused; she had far more money than she knew what to do with and said so. Naruto looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"You know Primavera Electronic? My father owns it. Primavera means spring in Riverian like how Haruno means spring in Konohian. He just wanted it to sound exotic." Sakura rolled her eyes as she payed for their meal.

They left Ichiraku's and Sakura thought of what she found out about Naruto. Yes, he was a demon and yes, she had been scared of him, but that didn't change anything for her. Naruto was Naruto, a least, to her. As long as he kept his demonic side under control, she was good with him. As she thought this, a yell sounded from a short distance away. Before she could stop him, Naruto was off like a bullet toward the noise. Groaning, Sakura ran after him.

When she caught up with him, he was yelling at someone in a black one piece with paint on his face with Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson, behind Naruto and a blond girl behind the other boy. She stared at the strangers for a little bit longer, noticing their Suna forehead protectors and the girls more regal stature. Immediately calling upon her training growing up, Sakura adopted one as well. "Naruto, what's going on?"

"This guy was about to beat up Konohamaru for bumping into him! I'm about to give him a piece of my mind!"

"You mean you haven't yet?" The Suna boy asked incredulously. "Then what were you yelling for?!" He put his fist up to the thing on his back.

"Kankurō, كافية. What would Gaara think if he saw you like this? (1) The girl spoke up, a bored facade on her face as she surreptitiously looked around.

The boy, apparently named Kankurō got a scared look on his face. Just as he was about to respond, a rock hit his hand with enough force to make him let go. Everyone looked up at where the rock came from, and there he was. Sasuke was leaning back in the tree throwing another rock up and down. "Are you done, dobe? I was starting to get bored, so I thought I would intervene."

"Kankurō. Temari. لنذهب. You're wasting everyone's time and you know how I feel about that." (2)

Based on the two's panicked reactions, this was the Gaara that the girl, Temari, was talking about. His red hair and green eyes shown sharply against his pale complexion and dark circles under his eyes, as well as his tattoo. It reads 'love' in Sunic. He appeared in a swirl of sand under the tree Sasuke was in. As Gaara walked toward the two Suna nin, Sasuke jumped down in front of Sakura and Naruto. "Who are you?"

Gaara stared at Sasuke. "In Common I would be called Gaara of the Sand. And yourself?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"I bet you want to know my name too, huh!" Naruto jumped in, "Well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I don't care." At Gaara's blunt dismissal, Naruto's face fell and flushed in anger. "Temari, Kankurō, I told you to get going."

"But you-" Kankurō snapped his mouth shut and his eyes widened in fear as he realized who he was talking back to.

Sakura and Sasuke met each other's gaze and knew that they both knew that the other team was scared of the youngest looking one. Sasuke turned his gaze back on the other team. "Why are you in Konoha?"

As Temari was about to answer, Sakura couldn't help herself. "Well, according to their forehead protectors, they're from Suna and from guesstimating their ages, I'd say that they're here for the Chūnin Exams that are happening in a few days. Also, judging by the air of superiority that you all carry, you're probably the Kazekage's children." As Sakura took a breath she noticed the surprise that passed the other teams face, as well as the consideration on Temari's face. "So, the real question is, how did three high profile people get away from their escort?"

"What's your name, girl?"

She raised her chin, "Sakura Haruno."

Gaara grunted and disappeared in the same way he appeared and Kankurō and Temari were left alone with the Konoha nin.

Gaara grit his teeth in annoyance as he appeared in his hotel room. That girl, that Sakura, was smart. And that Sasuke was trouble. But that other boy, that Naruto; أم, Mother, didn't like him.(3) In fact, Mother didn't like any of them. And he didn't like anyone Mother didn't like.

He hated this city. He hated how happy everyone was and how they all seemed to like each other, how no one was treated like a monster. The last time he saw that was right before his uncle tried to kill him. But Mother saved him, she always does and she loves him. She said so, as long as he gives her blood.

He felt an unhinged smile form across his face at the thought. He vaguely registered Baki watching him from the other side of the room as he let out a burst of manic laughter. Mother was getting impatient.

 _Soon, Mother._ He felt her simmer down some. _As soon as the Exams start and the Crush begins, you will get your blood._ The more Gaara laughed the more anxious Baki became, until there was dead silence.

Translations:

1) Pronounced: kafia and means: enough.

2) Pronounced: linadhhab and means: Let's go.

3) Pronounced: 'um and means: Mother.


	7. Prelude to the Chūnin Exams!

**So sorry that it's a little late. Real life has decided that I was too happy. My mom was just diagnosed with Stage 4 super aggressive kidney cancer and the doctors can't promise her anything. So, my updates might not happen as fast as before. I just wanted to you all know hat I'm not giving up on this story and fuck cancer.**

Chapter 7

After securing escorts for Kankurō and Temari, Team Seven decided to go to the training grounds to continue their teamwork training. It had been decided, when they started their month long training session, that Sasuke would be the leader, but Naruto would come up with battle strategies, as he had practice from his pranking days while Sakura would take over when dealing with civilians and diplomats. So, when Konohamaru got captured, Sasuke and Sakura let Naruto jump into action.

"So, we know that Konohamaru is tied to a tree and that the nin is guarding him. We don't have to kill him, just distract him enough for one of us to get Konohamaru away to safety." Naruto commented, putting on his claws and stretching his fingers to make sure they fit right. "I'm great at distracting and Sasuke's great at sneaking so, Sakura will be acting as distraction with me while Sasuke sneaks past and gets Konohamaru to safety then joins up with us and fight the bad guy!"

Sakura nodded while Sasuke looked both pleased and annoyed. She thought it was because Naruto said that he was the best at something and that he was annoyed because of the fact that he didn't get to get in on the action. She tried to keep the pleased look off of her face, but didn't think she did when Sasuke shot her an annoyed look. She stuck her tongue out at him, smiling while Naruto laughed at them. Konohamaru's yell reminded them that they were in the bushes and what they had to do, and they sobered.

Giving his teammates a last look, Sasuke turned and disappeared from their view. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and nodded. As Naruto tightened his fingers around the claws, Sakura took out her kodachi and got ready.

Naruto charged through the fog and immediately slashed with a claw. The unknown nin caught his wrist before it could connect, so Naruto swung with the other claw, this time connecting with the arm holding his wrist. The nin let go and staggered back while Sakura took her chance. She lunged forward and struck the ninja's left leg before he was able to reorient himself. The nin was able to jump back and threw some kunai at the two in order to give himself some space, which they dodged, before the ninja was caught with metal chains and was quickly met with Sakura's sword at his throat. Sakura followed the chains to Sasuke, who had Konohamaru behind him, now untied from the tree. Then the ninja started to laugh.

As the world around them began to clear, the ninja started to take another shape, this one, more familiar. "Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked incredulously, quickly pulling her sword away. Sasuke pulled his chains back under his sleeves what Naruto let his claws drop in shock.

"What's going on, Iruka-sensei? Why did you kidnap Konohamaru and why did you pretend to be someone else?" Naruto sounded like how Sakura felt. The shock of it all went away and was replaced by anger. _Are you freaking kidding me?_ Sakura glanced over at her teammates and saw her feelings reflected. Sasuke's eyes blazed with anger and his face contorted with contempt while Naruto looked more betrayed than than anyone else, but just as angry.

Iruka-sensei must have realized that he was walking on thin ice because he quickly started explaining. "It was a test! Every genin team goes through it when they get nominated for the Chūnin Exams! We had to make sure that you were ready!"

"We?" Sasuke's face was unreadable, Sakura and Naruto now standing behind him, showing a united front.

"That would be us." The three turned and saw their teacher and the Hokage come into view. Kakashi-sensei continued jovially, "I'm really surprised at Iruka though. I mean, getting bested by genin is not a great track record." He said it mildly enough, but the words were scathing.

Iruka flushed, "I didn't expect them to have new weapons, let alone know how to use them. I was caught by surprise."

Sakura tried not to take it too seriously, but knew that Sasuke and Naruto were far more volatile than she was, even though Inner was raging at her to let her out. Ignoring Inner, Sakura grabbed her teammates by the arm in bruising grips and gave them both looks that she hoped said that if they didn't shut up, they would regret it. Sasuke looked away, scowling while Naruto pouted. "Well? Did we pass?"

The Hokage was the one who answered her this time. "You may take the Chūnin Exams. They start in two days, so get some rest."

Kakashi-sensei walked up to his students and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I'll make sure that they do, Hokage-sama."

Konohamaru ran to his grandfather and the two walked away, Konohamaru talking his ear off. Iruka got to his feet, dusting himself off and looked like he wanted to say something, but the look on Naruto's face made him change his mind; with an uncomfortable look on his face, he left the four alone.

As the genin tried to wrap their heads around what had happened, Kakashi-sensei spoke. "You know, I'm surprised that my cute little genin could be so vicious."

"He looked like he was going to kill the Hokage's grandson, what else were we supposed to do?" Sasuke replied, "Ask him nicely to go away and leave the kid alone?" He sounded sarcastic, which was a new emotion for him. Sakura was proud.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto spoke up, "We had to get him away from Konohamaru and try to stop him. That's the whole point of being a ninja!" Sakura and Kakashi-sensei just looked at each other. She knew that he knew that, if she had to, she would have killed Iruka to save Konohamaru. Not because she liked the little brat, but because that was her duty.

After leaving the boys to do what they want, Kakashi and Sakura went back to the training grounds. "Kakashi-sensei? How come you're not really teaching me how to better control my powers?"

Kakashi sighed. He forgets sometimes that she's only thirteen and that, despite her maturity, she's still a child. "Because I don't want you to rely on it. If you rely on it, you're dead the minute you get caught without it. However, I do need to teach you something so, how about we try something new. You can sometimes catch a fish, so you won't starve, but you at least have that down. I would teach you how to incorporate water with your fighting style, but unfortunately, my powers are the complete opposite of yours. I have someone in mind to teach you a better fighting style, but he's a bit busy at the moment." Kakashi thought of his bright green friend and cringed internally. _He will never let me live down asking for his help_.

Sakura looked confused, but nodded and got into position. Kakashi continued, "I want you to bring up a dream of water and hold it where you feel comfortable." Sakura was able to get a small stream of water to listen before it fell back down, splashing her. Kakashi frowned, "After a month, you should be better at this, Sakura."

Sakura flushed and brought up a stream and held it up steady. Kakashi nodded, she was not holding back now. He noticed that Sakura had a bad habit of holding herself back during training, probably because of habit now. Her crush on Sasuke had stunted her growth as a ninja and Kakashi was determined to rectify that. "Now, thin it out and strike! Like a whip!"

As Sakura continued to do a water whip, she asked about his thoughts on the Suna Royal Children. "Temari is a Fan Mistress, I hesitate to say wind mistress because she only ever uses her fan. She's the eldest and, as such, she is extremely protective of her brothers. Kankurō is the middle child and a Puppeteer. Not yet a master, but still not someone for you to take lightly."

"And Gaara of the Sand? Is he like us?"

"I he's not like us, he inserts his chakra into his sand. He's the youngest of the siblings, but more deadly than those two combined. Suna has been using him as a weapon since he was young. He is the team leader and a sociopath, to the point where his siblings are scared of him."

"Well, that I knew from when I met them."

Kakashi's gaze snapped to Sakura, who was still practicing the water whip. "You met them? When?"

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, still mostly focusing on the whips. "Earlier today. Kankurō was bullying Konohamaru and Temari was with him. The Sasuke came and Gaara appeared. He was interested in me and Sasuke but didn't like Naruto for some reason." Kakashi frowned under his mask but made sure it didn't show in what Sakura could see. He didn't like that a sociopath was interested in his genin.

The day of the Chūnin Exams Team Seven, or Team Kakashi for the duration of the Exams, found themselves at the sign up location which was at the Academy building this year. After the three registered on the first floor, they made their way up the stairs.

As they walked up the first set of stairs, they were met with a huge crowd of kids, all genin. A girl in twin buns was standing in front of two other genin that were blocking the door. "Let us in, damn it! This is the third floor, right? So let us in!" The brunette girl was yelling at the other two.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other in confusion. "We only walked up one flight of stairs, right?" Sakura whispered in his ear, while keeping a hand on Naruto. Sasuke nodded. "I thought so." She looked at Naruto who looked like he was about to start yelling and bring attention to themselves. She squeezed his arm just enough for him to look at her and shook her head when he did.

Sakura saw the kid in green with a bowl cut watching her as Team Seven made their way to the second set of stairs. As what could only be his teammate made a scene, the bowl cut boy followed them to the next floor and get in front of them. "My name is Rock Lee and I wish to fight Sasuke Uchiha for the lovely Sakura's hand!"

 _What?!_ Before Sasuke could do something stupid, like accept, Sakura brought her hand up in a placating gesture. "I don't like Sasuke like that anymore, and to be frank, I'm only thirteen, I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now. Can't we just be friends?"

Lee's eyes filled with tears. As Sakura and Naruto began to panic, he said, "The lovely Sakura is the nicest girl I've ever met! Of course I will wait however long she asks!" He started bowing as the bun girl and another boy walked up to them. The girl looked embarrassed by her teammate while the other boy, who had the pale eyes of the Hyuuga clan, remained stoic.

The boy closed his eyes and said, "Lee, that's enough. Stop bowing can come on, we have to go."

"Yes, Neji! Tenten, let us go!" Lee skipped to his teammates and they continued on.

Team Seven toiled at each other in slight confusion before getting into position, with Sasuke in the middle, Sakura to his right and Naruto to his left, and walked into the room.

Kakashi looked down at his team from the rafters, Gai at his side. Kakashi looked at Gai from the corner of his eye. "I'm surprised, Gai. I would have thought that he would have challenged Sasuke even after Sakura said what she did."

"Lee respects women. He knows that they are fully capable of knowing their feeling and will not try to victimize himself by saying that he's the 'nice guy' in the 'friend-zone'. He will find someone when they're both ready."

Kakashi hummed in agreement. "So, about that training regiment for Sakura…"


	8. Chūnin Exams Part One

Chapter 8

As Team Seven walked into the room they stopped short. "How are there that many genin here!?" Naruto's shout attracted some attention, most notably from a blonde girl who got heart eyes when she noticed Sasuke.

She ran into him and jumped on his back, her blonde ponytail hitting Naruto in the face. "Oh, Sasuke! How are you, my love! I missed you so much!"

"Ino, you troublesome girl, get off the guy." A boy their age with his hair also in a ponytail but it was short enough to look like a pineapple, walked up to them along with a boy with swirls on his cheeks and was eating a bag of chips. "Can't you see how uncomfortable he is?" The boy continued sounding annoyed.

"Oh, Shika, lighten up! He's totally cool with it, aren't you Sasuke?" She batted her eyes at Sasuke, who was looking more and more murderous by the second. As Sakura rips her old friend off of the poor boy, another group of three came up to them.

"Sheesh, guys," the boy with triangles on his cheeks groaned out as the girl following him, obviously a Hyuuga, and another boy, also obviously an Aburame, rounded out the group, "could you be any louder?"

His eyes immediately went wide as he took in who he was talking to, and Sakura didn't blame him. It was a well known fact that Naruto, Ino, and Kiba, the boy with the triangles, were the loudest in their class at the Academy. As Naruto was about to take him up on the challenge, Sakura looked at the other girl and said, "So, Hinata, how's life been treating you," in a blatant attempt to change the subject.

Hinata's face went beat red and she started to stutter, but having everyone look at her, including her crush Naruto, was too much for the poor girl. Her eyes rolled up and she limply fell in a dead faint. She would have it the ground had Kiba not caught her in time. While Naruto was panicking about the "weird girl that always faints," a silver haired boy walked up to them, his glasses glinting in the fluorescent light.

"I would cool it, if I were you. This isn't a class field trip, you don't want to draw attention to yourselves." His words were friendly enough, but his tone was judgmental. Sakura didn't like him one bit.

Ino got a mean look on her face. "Yeah, well, who asked you? Who are you?"

"Kabuto Yakushi, at your service." Here he did a little mocking bow. Straightening, he continued," But really, look around you. You made quite an impression."

As the nine rookies looked around the room, the noticed everyone was glaring at them. Gaara was in a corner with his siblings on either side of him, glaring at everything he set his eyes on. Lee, Neji and Tenten were also watching them, probably the only group that wasn't glaring at them. Actually no, Neji seemed to be glaring at the now waking Hinata. _Whatever_. Sakura rolled her eyes and Shikamaru caught her eye while he was rolling his eyes, noticing Neji as well, and they shared a grin.

As she was bonding with Shikamaru she missed the group Kabuto singled out, as she didn't really care about them, but she heard when he continued to help them. "Of course, that is to be expected, considering you're all rookies."

Sakura was immediately on guard, "And how would you know that we're rookies?"

Kabuto glanced her way, clearly unimpressed, "Because I've taken the Chūnin Exams the last seven times, and never once have I seen any of you."

The nine were shocked. "Seven times?" Shikamaru asked the question that was in Sakura's mind. _How could this guy do the Exam seven times and **still** not pass?_

Kabuto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "I know, it's embarrassing right? I should have passed this Exam ages ago. But the last part of the Exam always gets to me. But, luckily, I have info about everyone here."

Sasuke's eyes sharpened as he stared at Kabuto. "How? And can you show me?"

"Sure!" Kabuto sounded cheerful enough, but Sakura and Shikamaru once again caught each other's eye. Sakura was grateful that he was helpful, but was cautious about the helpful stranger. After Kabuto told them about Rock Lee and Gaara, in which they learned that Lee couldn't use chakra and Gaara is scary strong, the other door on the other side of the room slammed open.

A man with a bandanna on his head a a long scar on his face scowled at them. "Come in and sit in your assigned seats." As the genin filed in, Sakura noticed that Ino was directly behind her and Sasuke was a little behind them to the left. The man went inside and stood behind the desk. "I'm Ibiki Morino, head of Torture and Interrogation and welcome to the first part of the Chūnin Exams."

Kakashi chuckled Morino told the genin what was going on. He and the other genin instructors were in a secure room, watching the written portion on a monitor through hidden cameras in the other room. He and Asuma Sarutobi looked at each other in amusement.

"Begin!" Morino's voice came from the monitors and the genin flipped their exams over. Kakashi wondered how many of them understood the reality of the test. As the genin were eliminated from the exam team by team, he figured not many. He saw the Kazekage's youngest cover his eye and a ball of sand appeared in his other hand and frowned. He noticed the chūnin in the room didn't see, as well as Baki watching Gaara and decided that he had to let it go, even though he didn't think a twelve year old should have that much control over their demon, even if it's only the one-tail.

Asuma made a sound and Kakashi looked back at the screen just in time to see Ino Yamanaka slump over and for Sakura to stop writing and fervently read over her paper. He looked at Asuma, who was smirking at him, which was an odd expression on his usually smiling face. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "What, do you really think my student didn't plan this? Look again."

Asuma looked back and saw Ino was back in her body, hurriedly writing while Sakura erased everything she wrote. Then she stretched and began writing again as Sasuke turned on his Sharingan and began copying her arm movements in his own paper. "What? She-"

"She knew who was sitting behind her and planned accordingly. She knew that Ino would use her clan technique on her and wrote false answers. Once Ino did as planned, she erased and signaled to Sasuke that she was going to write the correct answers." Kakashi looked at the other jōnin instructors and lowered his voice, "She played to her teammate's strength and used it to her advantage."

"Time's up, maggots! Pencils down!" Morino's voice rang through once again, signaling the end of the test.

Sakura stared in stunned silence along with the rest of the genin that went through he exam. Ibiki laughed and said something but it was lost when a scantily clad women entered through the window, along with a sign. Ibiki immediately scowled at her, "Anko! What are you doing? You're supposed to come in after they pass, not before!"

"Whatever, Scarface. Man, you let all these maggots pass? You must be gettin' soft in your old age. Anyway, brats, I'm Anko Mitarashi and I will be your proctor for the second stage of the Exams and by the time I'm done with you, there will be less than half of you left."

 _Less than half!_ Sakura looked around and caught her teammates eyes, knowing that this was the easy part. Now, they have to survive against everyone in this room. Anko's voice broke through her musings, "The second part will begin at Training Ground Forty-Four at 9 am. Be there or don't, I don't really care. Just know that if you don't show up, you automatically fail the Exams. You're dismissed."

Naruto immediately jumped up and ran to Sasuke and Sakura. "We passed! We passed!"

Sakura smiled, "It was because of you and that speech you gave." Her smile widened at Sasuke's affirmative grunt as they walked out of the room and down the stairs. "How about we meet up with Kakashi-sensei and eat some celebratory dinner, not ramen," she added when she saw Naruto open his mouth. He slumped as they walked outside, Sakura sighed and gave in. "Fine, we can have ramen, but you have to eat something else too, like ropa vieja, my mom is making it tonight and it's Riverian shredded beef with tomatoes, you'll love it!" (1)

"Alright, Sakura." The three jumped as Kakashi was suddenly behind them. "Let's try it, maybe not with ramen though. I don't think the flavors would mix well." The four walked to Sakura's house and her mother played the perfect housewife, speaking in Common and serving out the food, making sure to give Sasuke more tomatoes at Sakura's insistence. Although,Sakura's mom didn't like her daughter's career, she at least didn't show it. After the boys left, Sakura went to her room to get some rest. She knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Translations

1) This one isn't really a translation, but more of a plug in. Ropa Vieja is literally translated to "old clothes" because that's what he beef looked like she it's shredded, but it's a traditional Cuban dish that is so served with white rice, black beans and platanitos maduro, which are fried sweet plantains and it is amazing. I would recommend you try it.


	9. Chūnin Exams Part Two

**Hey, guys! I'm so sorry that this is so late. First things first, no this story is not on hiatus, I've just had a lot going on these past couple of months. I'm in my last semester of university and so school had just started and I had to work on my senior thesis, the my Grandma died and I had to go back to school, which is out of state, then three weeks ago my mother died, so I haven't really had a lot of time to write, but I will get back to this! Promise! Now, enjoy this short chapter.**

Chapter 9

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto stared up at the giant fence surrounding the Forest of Death, and they weren't the only ones. The other teams that made it to this part of the Exams were all around them. The ominous feeling of the Forest was overwhelming, choking Sakura before she even entered. Sakura looked around and sucked in a halting breath before taking Naruto's and Sasuke's hands in a bruising grip and walked toward Anko, who just showed up.

"Alright, brats! Now that you've gotten a feel for this place, let me explain the second part of the Exams! But first! You have to sign this waiver." Anko's smile sharpened and her eyes got a sadistic glint in them.

"Wh-what's the waiver for?" Hinata's soft voice met Sakura's ears.

"So glad you asked, little heiress! But, basically it says that you can't sue Konoha if you die in there. You have to sign it every time you go into the Forest." Shock and fear made Sakura's breath stutter to a halt and she felt Naruto squeeze her hand and Sasuke's breath halted before starting again hand gripped her hand as well. Anko looked around at the genin and smiled maliciously at their reactions. "Once you have turned in the waiver, go to one of the Chūnin over by the table and they will give you a scroll, one says Heaven and the other says Earth. You need both scrolls to enter the tower within. The Tower is in the center of the Forest, and there, is where you can rest up. Now, sign!" The genin scrambled to do as ordered by the crazy lady and Sakura took a deep breath once her waiver was signed and turned in.

A commotion sounded and Sakura turned in time to see Anko firing a kunai at Naruto, grazing his cheek. Sakura closed her eyes and groaned softly. _Why can't he ever not draw attention to himself?_

" **If he did that, then he wouldn't be Naruto, right**?" Inner's voice came through and Sakura gave a soft sound of assent while walking toward her knucklehead teammate. As she was walking back, a Grass nin slithered up behind Naruto and have Anko back her kunai with her tongue.

"Now, now. We wouldn't want someone too injured before they enter, now do we Proctor Anko?" The Grass nin poked at Naruto's cheek, which had a red line of blood, a cut left by Anko's kunai. Sakura felt a wave of relief, happy that Naruto only had a cut. She looked Sasuke's way noting that he was getting their scroll before she moved in on Naruto and the Grass nin.

"Naruto! Are you ok?" Sakura said as she finally made her way over to them. Naruto gave a nod in her direction and Sakura gave a small smile before turning to the Grass nin that was still behind him, but had backed up a few inches. Sakura looked at her as well. As Sakura took in the Grass nin, a faint green glow came from the mysterious nin's fingertips and she brought it up to Naruto's face, but a hand grabbed her wrist before it could make contact. Sakura followed the hand, up the arm to a familiar face.

Sasuke frowned from where his hand gripped her wrist, and Sakura knew that he knew that the Grass nin let him. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked, but her fingers caught Sakura's eye and she grew excited.

"Hold on Sasuke, I recognize this technique!" Sakura's eye grew wide in excitement as she started bouncing on her toes. The telltale light green of the medical jutsu touched Naruto's cheek and the cut disappeared. Sakura was surprised that the cut was still there, but was happy that she didn't have to explain away a vanishing scar. "It's a medical jutsu!" She turned her green eyes on the Grass nin, "You know medical jutsu?"

The Grass nin smiled, seemingly amused, "Not as well as my old genin teammate, but I know enough for little scratches." She glanced around, "Now, why don't you three get back to preparing for the next task, hm?" With that she turned and walked away.

Sakura waited until she was out of earshot before gushing about the jutsu the Grass nin used to Naruto and Sasuke. She couldn't help it. She was always fascinated with medical jutsu but never thought of getting into it herself. As she continued to speak, she failed to noticed Sasuke's face getting more and more troubled the more she talked.


	10. Chūnin Exams: The Forest of Death

**To make up for the super short chapter last time, here's a long one! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!**

Chapter 10

Sakura looked at what little water she had left in her water bottle. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura has been in the Forest of Death for three days now, and despite the fact that it was a forest, there was no humidity. They had yet to come across a body of water, so they were forced to use the water bottles Sakura had packed in her backpack. After this one was gone, they only had one more in between the three of them.

Naruto was cooking some smallish animal they managed to catch while Sasuke was setting up traps while keeping his teammates in sight. After a few days of having to fend off genin teams, Sakura understood, really, she did. But sometimes, a girl has to have some time alone, especially since she saw some red in her underwear that day - which was concerning.

Despite the implications of that, she put it aside and focused on the task at hand - finding water. She knew that human body only lasted so long without water, and they were down to a few mouthfuls, and they still only had the Heaven scroll with no leads on getting an Earth scroll anytime soon. Making a choice, she saved the water until tomorrow and looked back at her boys. Sasuke was sat down next to Naruto waiting the last few seconds the meat needed to cook. Naruto was a surprisingly good cook, despite his favorite food being ramen, but she suspected that was because he grew up alone and needed to cook to survive. After eating, Sasuke took the first watch and as Sakura curled up in her sleeping bag, she knew that although the scrolls were important, basic survival came first - and that meant finding water first thing in the morning.

Despite their best intentions, the three of them have yet to find more water and are down to the last mouthful by mid afternoon. As they touched down on the ground, the shadows from the trees blocked the light of the sun and Sakura felt goosebumps raise on her arms. She briefly thought of how weird the Forest was, with it's weird plant life before a gust of wind separated Naruto from her and Sasuke. "Naruto!" Sasuke and Sakura looked around frantically, but it wasn't use. Naruto was gone.

 _He can't be dead. He just can't be. Naruto can't be dead!_ Sakura was shook. The last ten minutes were terrifying. First, they thought that they found Naruto, but it turned out to be that nice Grass nin, who suddenly wasn't so nice anymore, especially after he said that he killed Naruto. The pure Killing Intent that emanated from the Grass nin was enough for her to see her own death. Despite the genjutsu training Kakashi-sensei had put her through, she couldn't get out of it and she would have died if not for Sasuke. Both Sasuke and Sakura were shaking as they tried to get themselves under control before the nin found them, they both knew that it was only a matter of time.

"This is not good," Sasuke's voice was shaking as he spoke. "There's no way we can beat him."

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke. I trusted him, both when he showed up as Naruto and before," Sakura's voice wasn't much better. "Dios, I'm such an idiot!"

"...You didn't know. Don't beat yourself up too bad, Sakura." Sasuke's hesitation and uncomfortableness was clear in his vice as he tried comforting his more emotional teammate.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan! You didn't know! I liked him too, remember?" A slightly husky voice came through the air.

Sakura gasped and Sasuke quietly called, "Naruto!" and there he was, their precious knucklehead teammate, slimy and dirty, but relatively unharmed. Sakura ran to him and hugged him, uncaring of the slime while Sasuke held back only due to pride. "You're okay, you're okay! He said you were dead!"

"Almost. I was eaten by a giant snake before I broke out of its stomach." Naruto's voice lost its blasé attitude for a second before he became perky once more.

"So, that's what happened to him. Manda will be upset that I killed another one of his species." The Grass nin came up from the ground in front of them and the genin immediately went into a defensive position. The Grass nin smiled cruelly when he noticed how shaky the weapons were.

Sasuke made an aborted movement, like he couldn't make up his mind on throwing the kunai or putting it away. Sakura puke understand, she had the same feeling. She wanted to fight to live but she knew that they had to run away in order to live. As Sasuke talked to the Grass nin about the scrolls, the nin took his out and lit it on fire. At the team's shocked sounds he smirked. "You really think I care about this stupid scroll? You can keep yours all you want, I don't really care either way. I only want one of you, if the others get out of the way, I won't have to hurt them."

The three looked at each other in baffled concern, trying to figure out who he was after. Sakura immediately counted herself out, as the only thing she could think of that made her interesting was either sealed in a scroll or was almost out, and nobody knew about them anyway. So that left Naruto or Sasuke and they both could be the target, being the Kyuubi and the Last Uchiha respectfully. But, since Naruto being the Kyuubi was a state secret, it was unlikely that the Grass nin would know, which left…

Sasuke got it just before she did. "Me. You want me."

The smile grew on the Grass nins lips. "I knew I liked you. But Pinky behind you figured it out too, didn't you?"

The attention from the Grass nin made her speak without thinking. "Pinky, really? You couldn't come up with anything original?"

There was silence as everyone comprehended what she said. Sakura covered her mouth, Naruto snorted, Sasuke and the Grass nin just stared. Sakura lowered her hands, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I have no idea what came over me."

The Grass nin regained his composure and Team Seven did the same. Sasuke handed Sakura the Heaven scroll to protect while he went after Naruto since Naruto already jumped in to fight the Grass nin, claws out, with some of the Kyuubi's chakra leaking from his body in his anger that the Grass nin wanted Sasuke. The Grass nin leapt out of the way before getting a pensive look on his face before suddenly getting in front of Naruto, holding him to the trunk of a tree. Ignoring Naruto's attempts to escape, he ripped Naruto's jumpsuit down to his belly, where a giant swirling seal was placed. "I know what this is. I know who made it and I know what you are. I can't have you interfering with my plans." With that said, the Grass nin's fingers lit up one by one before he struck the seal with it.

Naruto let out a gut wrenching scream of pain before the Grass nin let him go and he started falling to the ground, unconscious. Sakura ran as fast as she could to reach him, sure that a fall from that height could do serious damage to him, and caught him before he could reach the ground. Looking up, she saw Sasuke was fighting the Grass nin and had to do something. She took out the last water bottle and made the little water they had left into a tiny ball, like a bullet. Aiming carefully, she shot the ball toward the Grass nin's neck, allowing enough of a distraction for Sasuke to get his chains around the Grass nin and pulled him against a trunk on the other side of the branch. Sasuke used his family's fire technique and the Grass nin lit up in flames. Sakura and Sasuke both fell to their knees in relief, glad he was over.

"Well then, what marvelous technique that was. What jutsu was that, I don't think I've heard of it before?" A high pitched voice cut through the air. Sasuke and Sakura looked at what should have been a mess of bones and flesh and instead saw nothing. Jumping up, the teens looked around and saw a figure walking towards them from behind Sakura. The figures face was half melted off, but there was a much paper face inside. The figure tore off the rest of the Grass nin's face and Sakura recognized him.

"I know you. You're Orochimaru. You were banished from Konoha years ago, weren't you? You were in a team with Tsunade and Jiraiya, that's how you know some medical jutsu and that's how you recognized Naruto's seal, isn't it?"

Orochimaru looked impressed. "You know all that? And here I was going to introduce myself, but you took care of that for me."

Sakura couldn't help herself, "Also, aren't you, like, fifty? You wanting Sasuke for his body is breaching on pedophilia territory. Just saying."

Orochimaru opened his mouth to respond but Sakura bulldozed through, "Oh my gosh, what is wrong with me today? I never do this. Please don't Hannibal Lecter me!"

"I'm not a cannibal!" Orochimaru sounded scandalized. _Apparently people thinking he's a cannibal is worse than people thinking he's a pedophile._ "And I'm not a peophile, either."

 _I stand corrected_ , Sakura thought as she took out her last ditch effort, Kubikiribōchō, the sword she got by pure accident. She still wasn't strong enough to use the sword for long, but she figured the element of surprise would help her stall until the proctors came. As the sword came out of the scroll it was in, Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock. Gathering her strength, Sakura swung the sword but Orochimaru dodged. Sakura kept swinging as fast as she could, but was slowed down as she was still unused to the weight of the sword and as Orochimaru was a master at kenjutsu and was a freaking Sannin, she kept missing and he took an opening and made his way behind her, and twisted her wrists. Sakura cried out and dropped the sword, her arms now caught under one of his while his other went around her neck.

Orochimaru lowered his head to her neck and dragged his nose across it and up to her ear. " **You know, if he really wanted to prove he wasn't a pedophile, this is not the way to go**." Inner's voice broke through Sakura's thoughts while her breath stuttered to a stop.

Orochimaru's warm breath hit her ear as he whispered, "What a marvelous girl you are. If I could do what I want to twice, I would do it to you too. But, if you ever want to know how to properly use that sword, you know how to look for me." Before Sakura could even begin to break down what he said, his face was suddenly very far away, zooming toward Sasuke, who was still on the ground. As Sakura cried out for Sasuke to run, Orochimaru bit Sasuke's neck and his head snapped back to the rest of his body. Sasuke collapsed and Orochimaru let Sakura go.

As Sakura scrambled away from Orochimaru and towards Sasuke, she heard him call out. "I hope you live, Sasuke. If you do, you will seek me out to gain power, I can guarantee it. I'm trusting you, girl, to keep him alive for me." She turned her head to where he was and saw him vanish, just like he was never there. Sakura looked around, Naruto and Sasuke both unconscious and all of them out in the open.

Sakura managed to both unconscious team members onto the ground and into an opening under some roots from the large sycamore trees surrounding them. She found out that, not even five minutes away, there was a small spring where she could get more water. _Where was this when I needed it?_ While caring for Naruto and Sasuke throughout the night, Sakura discovered something else about her powers - she could use water to heal; only small cuts and bruises, but it was a start, which was good because whatever Orochimaru did to Naruto forced him to stop healing.

But what really worried her was Sasuke. Not too long after she settled them down, he began sporting a rather high fever and it would not go down, all the while moaning and writhing in pain. She kept the cloth that she ripped from the shirt and dipped in the spring cool, but the fever remained disturbingly high.

Sakura sat indian style in a vigil by the entrance of the roots, traps set up around the clearing. She was exhausted from staying up all night taking care of her teammates and she had to guess the time since their watches broke during the fight with Orochimaru. The water she was able to get rejuvenated her a bit, but nothing would replace a full night of constant vigilance. Her head slowly fell forward and hit her chest before jerking right back up. _I can't fall asleep! If I do, we're dead_!

A rustle coming from a bush on the other side of the clearing caught her attention. She waited to see if it would happen again, and when it didn't, she slowly turned her head forward, making sure to keep the bush in her peripheral vision. She tightened her hold on the kunai in her hand and cut the wire on her right, facing the inside of the cave. Her trap activated and a barrage of senbon flew towards the bush and three genin jumped out, but not completely unscathed. Sakura barely had time to see that hey were from Sound, a former territory of Konoha that had recently gained independence, before a blur of green landed in front of her. One look at the jumpsuit and bowl cut hairstyle and she knew exactly who he was, and that was before he turned and Rock Lee's face changed from concern to the squirrel Sakura didn't realize was in front of her, to shock at her predicament.

"Sakura-chan! Are these people bothering you?" Lee's tone was light, but his face betrayed how serious he was. His eyes took in Naruto's and Sasuke's still bodies as nodded to himself. "Sakura-chan, allow me the homies of fighting for you!" Without waiting for Sakura's stuttered decline for assistance, he lept at the one in the middle, the one covered in bandages except for his left eye. But, despite Lee's best efforts, he even got the one named Dosu on the ground, it ended up being three against one and Lee was losing. With one last attack from Dosu, Lee tumbled to a stop on front of Sakura, bleeding from the cuts in the jumpsuit.

Sakura looked at Lee in dismayed surprise. Even though she didn't want him to fight for her, she had hoped he could help her. He was known for not staying down no matter how much his teammate, a Neji Hyūga, beat him down, just like his sensei Might Gai. With how fast the Sound nin's had took him down, Sakura knew she was no match for them in her sleep deprived state. Sakura looked from Lee to her teammates and strengthened her resolve. She had to buy some time for them, she knew that Lee's teammates couldn't be too far behind, they wouldn't leave him to take care of himself when they needed him to pass.

She tightened the grip on the kunai still in her hand, and stood in front of Lee's prone form. The girl with the gray and black scarf burst out laughing with the other boy chuckled. The leader, Dosu, however gave Sakura a considering stare. Sakura met his gaze and hoped that he couldn't see how tired she was, how scared the encounter with Orochimaru had made her. She made sure her voice didn't shake when she called to them, "What do you want? I know you don't want our scroll, not this soon after…" Sakura risked a glance at Sasuke, his quiet moaning starting up again.

The boy with "death" written on his shirt spoke up. "We just want the black haired boy, Sasuke Uchiha. We just want to kill him, no big deal. Just give him to us and we'll be on our way." His mocking tone didn't sit well with Sakura and she turned back to the group and took out her kodachi. This was the first time she would use it in actual battle since she knew that it would have been useless on Orochimaru.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Jeez, Zaku. Now look what you've done, you went and got her all protective. Not that it'll help her any. Those traps she set were so easy to get by."

Zaku glared at her. "Are you sure about that Kin? You seem to have a few scratches on you. They don't hurt, do they Kin?"

"Why you-"

"That's enough, Zaku, Kin. We have a mission to complete. You wouldn't like to keep our guest waiting, now would you?" Dosu spoke up, sounding much more elegant than Sakura expected, but his speech pattern didn't seem natural. It was like he was trying to imitate someone. She shrugged it off before rushing forward and attacked Zaku who blasted her away with sound waves. Sakura landed feet first into a tree and immediately jumped off to attack Kin. Sakura was happy she decided to get stronger because she knew that otherwise she would be in trouble. After turning to get away from the senbon thrown by her opponent, Sakura managed to cut Kin in her arm fairly deep before her kodachi was blasted away by Zaku.

Now weaponless, Sakura turned her body to put some space between her and Kin, but Kin grabbed her loosened ponytail and held her to the ground. Kin was panting and her blood was dripping down her arm into Sakura's hair, but her grip held tight. "You know, if you spent more time training instead of conditioning your hair, you'd be much better with that sword of yours. This cut doesn't even hurt!"

Sakura closed her eyes for a second to center herself. She knew what she had to do. Kin was right. She had vowed to get stronger, and she had, but she wasn't strong enough. Killing Haku and disarming Zabuza were flukes that should've never happened, but they did. She knew then that she had to prove to everyone - herself, her team, her parents, even the Hokage himself - that she was more than a spoiled, pampered civilian girl who decided to play ninja. The resolve she felt since she asked Kakashi-sensei to take her training seriously grew and hardened once more. Sakura opened her eyes and took out a kunai and grabbed some dirt.

Kin noticed the kunai and laughed, "What? You think that'll hurt me?"

Sakura turned her head a little to get a better angle. "It's not for you. This is." Sakura grabbed Kin's arm and rubbed the dirt in Kin's wound and brought the kunai to the hair. Pink strands flew free as she cut her hair and Kin screamed in pain as dirt was forced into the open wound, reflexively letting go. Sakura couldn't help herself, "I thought you said it didn't hurt?" Sakura would admit to being petty at times. Lin's eyes burned with rage as she lunged toward Sakura and hit a log, knocking her out. Zaku's eyes widened as he saw his teammate knocked out by a substitution jutsu before frantically looking around for Sakura.

Clone after clone kept coming at him from every direction before he threw a kunai at the in coming on top of him expecting it to disappear like all the others. It didn't, and his eyes widened with the realization that she was the real one. Sakura slammed the kunai in her hand in his thigh as she but his arm hard enough to make it bleed. Zaku continuously punched her face to make her let go, but she held on tight and twisted the kunai. Zaku screamed in pain and desperation before forcing her back with a sound wave, forcing her to roll backwards, taking a chunk out of his arm as she went.

Sakura struggled to get up. She had taken down Kin, but Dosu and Zaku were still up to fight, even if Zaku had a bad stab and bite wound. She managed to get her arms under herself and lift her upper body enough to glare defiantly at them before her vision was blocked by purple. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji jumped in front of her and went into a defensive position. Dosu stepped back in shock, "Who are you? What's going on?"

As Ino explained why they were stepping in, basically giving her and Sakura's life stories, Shikamaru took in Team Seven's predicament, as well as Lee's. His perceptive eyes took in how the water from the bowl by Sasuke's side seemed to be tilted to one side, despite the level ground. With a move of his hand behind his back, the earth under the bowl tilted and the water spilled, making a beeline to Sakura. When the water touched her skin, it moved to the cuts along her arms and they disappeared. Sakura was watching Shikamaru like a hawk and both their eyes widened at what they saw. Before a fight could break out between Team Ten and Dosu and Zaku, a voice came from behind Sakura. "Sakura? Who did this to you?"

Sakura turned her head and gasped. Sasuke was awake! Except, it didn't really look like Sasuke, he had tattoos up his neck into his face and down to his left arm, originating from the bite Orochimaru gave him. "S-Sasuke?"

"Who did this to you?" Sasuke ignored her whisper as he took in her bruised face.

"I did." Zaku called out, ignoring Dosu's attempt to shut him up. "Do you like it? I think it's my best work yet!"

Sasuke turned his face to Zaku and his face changed from blank to furious in less than a second. Before anyone could blink, he was behind Zaku, pulling his arms straight back, forcing him on his knees. Zaku pleaded with Sasuke to let him go, and he did but not Before loud pops filled the air along with Zaku's screams as both of his shoulders were dislocated. Sasuke threw Zaku away from him. He stalked towards his fallen prey, still not done playing with him, but before he could take more than two steps, two arms wrapped around his chest, stopping him in his tracks. Sakura's voice came through to him, soft by his ear, "Stop, Sasuke. That's enough. It's over now. It's okay, it's okay. No one will hurt me now. It's okay."

Sasuke turned his head to look in her teary eyes and immediately froze. The black tattoos receded back to the bite mark, where three tomoe had appeared and collapsed in a heap of exhaustion in Sakura's arms. Dosu, realizing how out numbered he was now, especially with Neji Hyūga and Tenten who just arrived, gave up his scroll, took his teammates and retreated.

Sakura was still holding Sasuke when Naruto woke up not too much later. He came and took over for her so that she could get her hair fixed by Ino, who seemed to remember their old friendship. Ino was talking about how Sakura has such pretty hair and how she was still pretty even with it short. "Ya know, except for the face." Ino's tone changed from comforting to teasing and when Sakura turned to look at her face, Ino winked. Sakura blushes and her heart skipped a beat as she whipped back around and Shikamaru looked knowingly between the two girls.

After Ino was done, Sakura's hair reached just above her shoulders. She had no idea if it looked good, but she trusted Ino. The other teams agreed to give Team Seven the scroll, as they didn't need it, everyone else already had both scrolls and were on their way to the Tower in the first place. They decided to team up together. As they raced to the tower, they came across Hinata, Kiba and Shino, who needed one more scroll, but decided to try to get to the center anyway. At Naruto's insistence, they helped Team 8 get their scroll and they were off. The four teams eventually made it to the Tower and made their way inside.


	11. The Preliminary Rounds and a Surprise!

**So, I attempted to write a fight scene, let's see how it goes and Gai is so hard to write, holy cow! Also, I was very tempted to give Sakura's dad a birth name and a name he got when he moved to Konoha, like her mother and** ** _my_** **dad. When he came to America in the 60s, they gave him an 'American" name because they thought that nobody could pronounce Esteban.**

Chapter 11

As all four teams entered the Tower, they separated themselves into different rooms, one per team. When Team Seven entered their room, they saw that it was empty, except for a large piece of paper pinned to the door. Naruto tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Sakura read from the paper aloud, "If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your bodies and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This _ is the secret way that guides us in this place today."

"Huh," said Sasuke and nodded to himself. Sakura could tell he was trying to figure out what it meant. Naruto was yelling about how it doesn't make any sense and Sakura was looking from the letter to the scrolls before it clicked.

"The scrolls! We have to open them together!"

"What?" Naruto and Sasuke looked skeptical, but Sakura steamrolled through.

"Think about it! It talks about Heaven and Earth, just like the scrolls. Most people would only pick one, wisdom or strength, but the letter is telling us that they're wrong! A true ninja needs both! That's how we have achieved peace, with both wisdom and strength, One is not inherently better than the other! So, we open them together." Sakura nodded to show her conviction.

Sasuke was nodding along, understanding where she was going, but Naruto was confused. Sakura could understand. He spent his entire life thinking that he had to be strong, not wise, to survive. She's not saying that Naruto wasn't smart, because he was, just in a different way than her or Sasuke. He was street smart, a far cry from the formal education that Sasuke had growing up as the second son of the Head Family of the Uchiha Clan and Sakura, who had grown up with the best civilian school money could buy.

Sakura was cut out of her musing by seeing Sasuke open his mouth, "It's not that hard of a concept, dobe. It says that you need to be smart as well as strong. Now, let's just get this over with."

Sasuke grabbed one scroll and Sakura handed the other to Naruto, knowing that if she didn't, there would be a fight. On her count, the boys opened the scroll and smoke started pouring out. Quickly, the boys through the scrolls to the center of the room. When the smoke dissipated, their old sensei, Iruka, was standing on the scrolls. He seemed to be holding in a cough, but refused to waive the remaining smoke away. His serious look vanished when Naruto yelled his name in glee.

"Hello you three. I was hoping I'd get you. Kakashi's going to be upset he couldn't be here. Don't worry, he's just on the other side of this door. I'm just here to congratulate you on making it to the Tower in just four days." His smile dimmed and his eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Sasuke's stature of holding his neck, Naruto's frown and Sakura's wide eyes. "Is everything okay?"

Sakura spoke up before her teammates could. "Nothing we couldn't handle. Thanks anyway, Iruka-sensei!" She grabbed her boy's hands and squeezed, mostly for support, but partly to shut them up. It's not that she didn't trust Iruka-sensei, she just trusted Kakashi more.

Iruka looked at them critically before nodding slowly. Sakura didn't think she fooled him for a minute, but he let them pass through the door. As soon as she cleared the door she searched the room for Kakashi-sensei. Her eyes found him in the back left corner and pushed her teammates in his direction. Kakashi's eye narrowed as he took in the bruising on Sakura's face and how Sasuke was holding the left side of his neck. Before his students could say anything he ushered them out the side door, claiming to Gai, who was next to him, that he was taking them to the medic bay.

Kakashi found an empty room and ushered his students into it before locking the door. He turned around and stared at them. "What happened?"

Sakura took a shaky breath and explained what happened from the first day to now. Kakashi's demeanor shifted from semi-relaxed to stiff as a board when Sakura mentioned Orochimaru, but let her finish. "Orochimaru bit Sasuke? Show me."

Sasuke walked up to Kakashi and brought his arm down. Kakashi examined the mark before looking at them again. "Did you tell anyone else? Anyone at all?" The three shook their heads. "Good. This is now a Class-A secret. Tell no one, other than the Hokage and I anything that happened. Is that understood?"

At his students confirmation, he led them to the medical bay. While Sakura's face was healed and the boys were checked out, Kakashi left a clone with them to go tell the Hokage what had happened and took Sasuke with him in order to seal the mark. Sakura was quiet as they fixed her face, happy to have a day break between the second and third phases. She knew that people thought she was weaker than her teammates, considering that they had to heal her and not her teammates. She let them believe it. It was better to be underestimated than overestimated.

After making sure Naruto was being taken care of, Sakura asked a female nurse to come over. At the nurse's questioning expression, Sakura blushed and said quietly that she had started her menstrual cycle in the Forest. The nurse's face cleared and she brought Sakura to a private room. The nurse started to explain what was happening, but Sakura cut her off. "I don't mean to be rude, but I already know what this means. My mother never hid it from me when I started asking questions. I know all about how human reproduction works, I just need to know how kunoichi deal with it compared to civilians."

"Well, in Konoha, we have a pretty intense program. So, we wait a few menstrual cycles in, to figure out what is normal for you - you know, how heavy it is, cramps or no cramps, how often it comes - things like that. Then, after we get your baseline, our pharmacists come up with a pill specifically for you so that it won't be too bad. It works with your chakra to help stabilize the hormones. But that's long term use. For now, unfortunately, all we can give you are pads and tampons. As a kunoichi, I would recommend the sports brand." Here the nurse got up and went to a large cabinet and pulled out a few boxes. "I would recommend the tampons during the day and pads at night. Do you know how to put these in?" At Sakura's head shake, she smiled and put her hand on her shoulder, "It's okay. Come on, let's go to the bathroom, I'll teach you."

—

Sakura made her way back to her teammates with two new scrolls, both more relieved and uncomfortable than when she left, but the uncomfortableness was more physical than mental. By the time she had grabbed Naruto and they went back to the main room, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei were already waiting for them. Kakashi-sensei glanced at the scrolls before urging them to another door. "You have another day to rest before Phase 2 ends. You're lucky, if Sakura hadn't started taking her training seriously when she did, therefore pushing you boys to train harder, then you would've been far worse off and would probably still be in the Forest." Sakura blushed under the praise and ducked her head.

"Who else is back?" Sasuke seemed to want to get the conversation on what he was most interested in.

"Well, you three, Teams 8 and 10, and Team Gai from Konoha and Team Baki from Suna so far. There's still a day left, so more can come." Kakashi hesitated before blowing out a sigh. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but be careful of Team Baki. They got here on the first day, and they didn't have a scratch on them. I trust you three to keep your distance."

"We will." The three replied before making it to the room in silence. Kakashi left them at the door, saying he had to wait with the other sensei's to show comradeship. The three went inside and looked at each other. Although the physical effects of what happened in the Forest was gone, except for Sakura's hair and Naruto's stomach seal, the mental and emotional effects were still there. Without a word, the three climbed onto one queen sized bed and laid together with Sakura in the middle to stop a fight between Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto curled into Sakura's side and threw a leg over hers to brush against Sasuke's and his free arm went over Sakura's body and grabbed Sasuke's hand. Sasuke was surprisingly accepting of this, as evidenced by him shuffling closer to Sakura's other side and grasping Naruto's hand in return.

Sakura was the first to breach the silence. "When you went down, I was so scared that we were all going to die. You guys are so much stronger than me, and when…" her voice broke, "I thought we were never going to make it out. But he didn't even care."

"That's not true." Naruto cut in. "He needed Sasuke alive for something, so he wasn't going all out."

"He also found the two of you interesting enough not to kill. That's the only reason you're still alive, I think." Sasuke spoke up, his voice steady.

There was a beat of silence before Naruto spoke up again, his voice smaller this time, like he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. "You won't go though, right? You won't leave us and go to him like he said you would, right?"

"Of course not." Sasuke said a little too quickly and not as sure as Sakura would have liked, but she appreciated the thought. She knew it wasn't that simple. He wanted to kill someone insanely powerful, so he needed to get insanely powerful in return, she only wished that he would realize that he could do that in Konoha, without being tempted by Orochimaru. They laid in silence before finally drifting off to sleep, with the knowledge that all of them were safe.

—

The next day two more teams came before the time ran out, Kabuto's team and Dosu's team. Kabuto looked shocked to see Sasuke in the room as all the teams lined up in the main room in front of a stage that had a giant sculpture of two hands making a hand sign. On the stage stood the sensei's of all of the teams that passed, with the Hokage in front. Below the stage stood the proctors of the Exams and their assistants.

"First, I would like to congratulate everyone who made it this far in the Chūnin Exams." The Hokage spoke, his old voice still strong enough to project itself throughout the room. "However, as Proctor Mitarashi pointed out to me, there are too many of you to proceed to the next Phase. So, there will be a Preliminary Round."

Whispers broke out as the genin couldn't believe what they were hearing. _Preliminary Round?_ Sakura was glad that she and her teammates got there yesterday, if they had just arrived, they would be at a disadvantage. Sasuke turned to look at her and nodded, likely having the same thoughts as her, though he still grasped his seal on his neck.

"However," the Hokage continued and the Hall fell quiet, "the results of the Preliminary Rounds are not based on teamwork, but on individual skill. Meaning that these are one on one fights and you are no longer responsible for your team. I must now inform you that if you wish to no longer participate in the Exams you may leave at this time. Nothing will be held against you if you do."

Nothing moved for a moment before a hand went up. "Guess that's my cue, then. I hate individual stuff, so I'm out." And with that, Kabuto went out of line and a chūnin led him outside. Sakura was conflicted for another reason. Sasuke didn't say anything, but she knew that Orochimaru's bite was still bothering him, considering he was still holding it. She was tempted to put her arm up for him, but she knew that Sasuke would never forgive her for stopping him from becoming chūnin. So, she kept her hand down while staring worriedly at Sasuke's back.

"Now, look up at the television screens above you to figure out who has the first fight." Anko spoke up, pointing above their heads.

The genin stepped back into a large enough circle for everyone to see the screens as their names were randomized before finally stopping on 'Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akadō' Sakura shares a confused look with Naruto before looking around and found one of Kabuto's teammates staring at Sasuke. The rest of the genin were ushered to the viewing platforms and were told to watch the fights because they could be fighting them later. Sakura noticed Kakashi-sensei talk quietly to Sasuke about something and Sasuke's face contorted in anger before smoothing out.

Sasuke and Yoroi waited until the new Proctor, Proctor Hayate, told them to start. Kakashi made his way to his students and Hayate yelled at the genin to begin before jumping back onto one of the platforms. As the fight commenced and Sasuke refused to use chakra and Yoroi siphoned Sasuke's chakra to himself, Kakashi revealed that the seal he placed on Sasuke only works if he doesn't use chakra, as the original seal could still activate, and if Sasuke doesn't want to use it to gain more power.

Sakura snapped her eyes back to her former crush in shock. She knew he was skilled in taijutsu, but he excelled in ninjutsu, which he can't use now. She could tell that he was reaching his breaking point already, it wasn't hard to. Dark purple chakra began to emanate from the seal and his skin took on a gray tinge. She looked around the room and one person caught her eye. Dosu was looking at Sasuke in muted fear, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Betrayal went across his face before he shook himself and his face went blank. Sakura raised her eyebrows before getting sidetracked by Naruto's shouts at Sasuke, egging him on. "Come on, teme! You're not gonna let some wimp beat you are you? I won't be able to take you seriously ever again if you do!"

Sasuke glared is at the blonde, the gray and chakra receding, before releasing his chains, making them surround Yoroi and holding him tight and proceeding to kick him in the head hard enough to knock him out. Hayate jumped down, proclaiming Sasuke as the winner of the round. After medics came and picked up Yoroi and Sasuke went upstairs, they all turned to the screens once more. The next two fights between Shino and Zaku, and Kankurō and Misumi Tsurugi went by too fast for Sakura to really get anything out of it, except to watch out for Shino's bugs, which she already knew as his position of Aburame Heir, and to keep watch on Kankurō's hands, because as a puppet master, he needs his hands to work . After Misumi's mutilated body was removed and taken to the medical bay, the remaining genin look back at the screens and two names came up.

'Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka'

Sakura and Ino stared at the names before turning their gaze to each other. Thousands of thoughts flew through Sakura's head as she stared at he former best friend, and she straightened her back and lifted her head and nodded at the Yamanaka Heiress, before making her way down. She knew Ino had a lot riding on this, the respect of her Clan members for a start, but so did Sakura. She had to prove to everyone that she was more than just a rich civilian born girl, that just because she didn't come from a Clan like most of her classmates, didn't make her any less competent of a shinobi. And it started with beating Ino.

She and Ino made to the bottom at the same time, both reluctant but determined to win. Hayato yelled to begin and Sakura got into position, kodachi in hand, but Ino stood still, her head turned down. Sakura paused in surprise when Ino finally lifted her head, brought a kunai to her ponytail and cut it off. "This was it, right?" Ino shook the blond locks in her hand and threw them. "This is what made you decide to take this seriously, isn't it? Well, so am I! You were my best friend and I gave that up for a stupid boy! If you decided to take your training seriously, then so do I!" Ino took her headband and put it proudly on the forehead. "And that starts with beating you!"

Ino took out a kunai and charged. Sakura dodged and slashed with her kodachi, but Ino substituted with a price of rubble from the previous battles. Ino then made two clones and the three Ino's attacked Sakura, who got rid of one and rolled out of the way of the second before getting close enough to the real Ino to strike her. Ino was grazed in the stomach, but managed to get away fast enough to not sustain too much damage. Ino was panting, and Sakura's breathing was getting heavier. Ino made a circle with her hands, making sure Sakura was in it and closed her eyes. Sakura's eyes widened as she tried to get out of the way, but it was too late.

Sakura felt Ino take control of her body and was forced to raise her hand. As Ino was attempting to get Sakura to forfeit the match, Sakura's panic brought Inner to the forefront. Ino's shocked voice rang through her mind. "Wh-what are you?!"

" **What I am is not important. GET OUT OF MY HEAD**!" Inner Sakura grew to an enormous size and squeezed Ino in her hands enough to force the Yamanaka heiress to leave Sakura's mindscape.

Ino stared at Sakura in fear before she got a grip on herself. She visibly steeled herself before trying one final attack. She and Sakura ran at each other and although Ino managed to punch Sakura in the jaw, Sakura stabbed her in the leg, and Ino went down. Hayate jumped down and beamed Sakura the victor and Ino was brought to the medical bay. Sakura sook off the medics and went back upstairs. The rest of the battles went quickly with Temari viciously beating Tenten, Shikamaru tricking Kin, Naruto getting the better of Kiba's enhanced senses, Neji's brutality against Hinata so bad that four jōnin had to step in to stop him from killing her, Gaara breaking Lee's leg and arm, and Dosu taking down Choji in one hit. Once all battles had ended, the ten winners met with Hayate on the ground.

He coughed before taking a breath and grabbing a bowl from a chūnin assistant and passed it around the genin, telling them to take a paper. "The numbers on the paper tell you who you are fighting. So, Naruto vs. Neji, Shikamaru vs. Temari, Sakura vs. Dosu, Kankurō vs. Shino, and Sasuke vs. Gaara. The final Phase is in a month, so you each have a month to train for your matches."

Sakura looked at Dosu, who seemed to both be relieved and overwhelmed at everything. He looked at her and tried to smirk, but it didn't really work. Sakura turned her head forward as Hayate told them that they were free to go. While Sakura wanted to stay with her teammates, she also wanted to talk to Ino. Before she could make up her mind, Naruto wrapped an arm around her neck and started pulling her towards the medical bay, pulling Sasuke along by his arm.

"Ack! Naruto! You're going to choke me!"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan! But I knows you want to see that blond chick, so we're going with you!"

"Some blond chick? You do realize she's an heiress, right?"

"Yeah, whatever."

By the time their bickering ended, they were in the doorway of Ino's room. Sakura made the boys stay outside the room before making her way inside. Ino was already healed u, but was still in bed as she hadn't been discharged yet. The two former friends stared at each other before Sakura broke the silence, "Did you really mean that? About regretting putting Sasuke before me?"

"Of course I did, Forehead Girl." Ino looked indigent, "I didn't realize just how stupid I was back then. At least, not until I saw you cut off your hair. It looks better this way, by the way!" Ino rushed to add, flushing and reaching to grab her own hair before remembering she cut hers off too.

Sakura's stomach did a flip as she blushed and ducked her head. She reached for the ends of her now short pink hair and muttered a small thank you before pushing forward. I want us to be friends again, Ino. I miss you, I just didn't realize how much until now. Dios, We were such idiots."

Ino giggled, "That we were. So…"Ino stuck out her hand, "friends again?"

At Ino's hopeful expression Sakura couldn't resist going in for the hug, bypassing the handshake all together. Ino startled before wrapping her arms around the pinkette and buried her face in her neck.

—

'So, Kakashi-sensei, how are we training this month?" Sakura bounced on her toes as she asked the question that was on all her teammates minds. Sasuke and Naruto also looked up at their sensei as they waited for an answer.

Kakashi took a deep breath before explaining, "Well, I would have to do the most training with Sasuke since he needs to get fast enough to get by Gaara's defense and learn to control the Sharingan more, which I have." At Sakura's and Naruto's downtrodden expressions, he was quick to add, "But don't worry, I got you both teachers as well. Naruto, your trainer will be here in a few days, so you will be working with Ebisu for the time being. Sakura, I called in a favor to someone who would help you with taijutsu to help find a style that would suite you best."

Sakura paused while Naruto started complaining about how he didn't want to train with a pervert and Sakura felt a sense of dread. "No…" She looked at Kakashi in horror, knowing that there was only one person who Kakashi would call in for a taijutsu favor, "Not him…"

Kakashi got a sadistic look in his eye as he looked at her and laughed maniacally, before grabbing Sasuke and shunshined away. A large green blur stopped in Front of Sakura and Naruto, right where Kakashi had been a second before. He turned to them and the first thing Sakura thought was ' _He looks like Lee._ ' she thought about it for a second before editing her own thought, ' _Well, Lee looks like him, I guess._ ' A loud voice cut through her musings, "Have you seen my Eternal Rival?" Before he looked down and noticed who he was speaking to and sobered a little. He took in the pink hair and the bright green eyes of his favorite students crush and nodded to himself. His eyes went to Naruto before telling him that Ebisu was waiting for him in front of the Hokage Tower.

As Naruto reluctantly ran toward the Hokage Tower, Might Gai started walking Sakura to the training grounds. "You know, when Neji was the only one to pass, I was wondering what I would be doing for the month as he's focusing on his Clan techniques. But when my Eternal Rival asked me to train you in taijutsu, I just could not resist helping him and spreading the power of Youth!" Gai cheered up at the end of his speech and grabbed Sakura's shoulders as he came to a stop. "We will start our training tomorrow after you report to the Hokage Tower."

Sakura started. "What do you mean 'report to the Hokage Tower'?"

Gai got a secretive grin on his face. "Oh, now I cannot spoil the surprise now can I?"

—

The next morning, Sakura made her way to the Hokage Tower and was surprised to see Teams 8 and 10 there as well as Naruto, Neji, and Tenten. "Are we all supposed to report here together?"

"Seems so." Sakura was surprised that it was Shino who answered her as he doesn't really like to speak, usually letting Kiba do all the talking.

A voice told them to enter and when they went in Sakura was shocked to see her dad in the room. "Papá?"

"Excellent! You're all here!" Sakura's father spoke in his salesman voice before turning to the Hokage. "Do you mind if I explain Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage nodded and Sakura's father turned back to the teenagers. "Now, I don't know if you know this but plenty of people enjoy the Chūnin Exams. But, some people don't like the thought of kids trying to kill each other, so there is usually some other form of entertainment in between fights, right? Like how when Suna hosts it, they usually do some fire breathing dancers, Iwa uses the Kamizuru Clan to show off how pretty bees are. "He rolls his eyes. Sakura knows that her father is not very fond of bees. Neither is she to be honest, she's kind of allergic to their stings. "So, instead of doing something that everyone does, we decided that you all are going to be our entertainment!"

"Entertainment?" Sakura wasn't the only one who was shocked, but she was the only one to speak.

"Yes, mi cielo, entertainment! Not the kind of entertainment you're thinking of but more like singing and dancing!"

Sakura was reeling at being called his sky. He never called her that before. It made her feel nice, like he actually cared about her. Kiba was going on about how some of them can't sing to save their life and how Naruto has no rhythm while Neji was arguing how they were ninja, not something to be used for something so trivial.

"Silence." The Sandaime's old voice rang through the room and they went silent. "Your parents or guardians have already agreed to this. They realize that all of you will be in the spotlight for the rest of your lives, with or without this, so they want your exposure to be on their, and your, terms. Kizashi here, has agreed to abide by their wishes."

"Not all of you will get a solo!" Kizashi was quick to bring the attention back on him. Sakura couldn't get over how weird it was to hear his Konohian name spoken in front of her. "Only the people who will be in the next Phase will have solos. I will be the one in charge of how the performance goes, as the newly named Haruno Industries will be televising the entire event. I mean, we would be anyway, but still!"

"But, sir," Tenten spoke up, "What about the people who aren't here, like the Uchiha and Lee?"

"We tried to get ahold of Sasuke Uchiha, but he's fallen off the map along with Kakashi Hatake." Kizashi looked annoyed with everything. "And Lee is in the hospital. Even if he could perform with you, by the time his leg got fixed it would be too late for him to join you."

"But what about our training?" Neji was quick to but in rudely, which made Sakura bristle in defense of her father. "We cannot be expected to train and practice for this absurdity."

"Oh yes you will." Kizashi looked fierce for a civilian millionaire. "Just think about how impressed everyone will be when they hear that you not only trained, but also had other obligations on the side."

And that settled it, for most of them at least. The ones who weren't getting extra training now had something to do on their month off and the ones who did have training now had boasting rights. After settling on meeting at night three times a week, Sakura waited until she could get her father alone before pouncing on him.

"What the hell was that?"

"Watch your mouth, mi cielo, and what was what?"

"What was that back there? Singing and dancing? We're ninja, not entertainers! And since when do you call me 'mi cielo'?"

Kizashi smiled sadly at his daughter. "That was me protecting you the only way I know how. The Hokage was right, you know. Every single one of you will be in the spotlight the second the Chūnin Exams are complete. Most of you are heirs to wealthy Clans and their already calling Teams 7, 8, and 10 the 'Rookie Nine'. After this, with or without my input, they would call you all the Konoha 12. But this way, you can control what the public sees while still doing missions on the side. If you pretend to focus on entertainment, then people will eventually forget where you actually got famous from. That's why I changed the company from Electronics to Industry. I can provide alibis and take you all where you need to go for missions under the guise of a performance. Yes, it will be a lot of work and it might not be the best plan, but it's the least I can do."

Kizashi looked down at his daughter's shocked face before pulling her into a hug, the first one they've had in years. Sakura couldn't help but cling to her father, knowing they were far from okay, but at the moment she didn't care. She just wanted confirmation that her father still loved her. "So, you're okay with me being a ninja?" Her voice was stuck in her throat but she managed to croak it out.

"Oh, mi cielo, I'll get there. As long as you're safe and happy, I will try to be."

—

Sakura soon found out that training with Gai was one hundred times worse than training with Kakashi. After figuring out that her chakra affinity was water, he started training her in the T'ai chi ch'uan, specifically the Yang style. It was a slow taijutsu style, but focuses on controlling their opponents instead of simply harming them. He also had her working on her speed, forcing her to where weights during the entire duration of the month. Eventually, she understood that the faster she was, the faster her fighting would be. The better she got at the moves, the faster she could apply them, and with her continued practice at home as well, it became easier for her body to just react.

What was harder than the actual training was the dance rehearsals. Naruto really couldn't keep rhythm, so when he had to pick her up, he tended to drop her. There was a big dance section in the middle of the song and Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba just couldn't get it. Sakura grunted as she hit the floor again while Shino caught Hinata. Ino almost fell if not for Chōji catching her at the last second. Sakura was envious of their third teammate and was resentful to Sasuke for never getting back to them. The choreographer, Tenten's mom, and Kizashi rubbed their faces in their hands, groaning, before she yelled everyone back into places. Tenten and Sakura looked at each other in comradery; they were both missing a teammate so, they were the ones to be in focus most.

"5, 6, 7, 8!"

 _This is going to be a long month,_ Sakura thought as the swing music picked up again.


	12. The End of the Chūnin Exams

**So the songs used are "Nobody" from 'Bandstand: A New American Musical' and "To Sir, With Love" from the 'Glee Cast'**

Chapter 12

Sakura decided to meet with Naruto for dinner after practice one night, a few days into the month. He had missed the day before and she was worried. When they sat down at Ichiraku's and ordered Naruto told her about his new teacher, Jiraiya.

"Wait," Sakura raised her chopsticks and used them to gester. "You're telling me that Kakashi-sensei called in the Sannin Jiraiya to teach you? That is so not fair, he just got me Gai-sensei."

Naruto raised his hands in defense, "I think he called him to check out what Orochimaru did to me that made me pass out. It was only after he lost a bet to me that he decided to train me."

Sakura paused. "Oh, that's okay then. Anyway, Naruto? I can tell that you're having some trouble remembering the steps and the lyrics, do you need some help?"

"Of course not Sakura-chan! I can…" at Sakura's deadpanned look, he lost the forced cheerfulness he was using. "Yeah… I might need some help. I'm no good at these kinds of things."

"Well, lucky for you, I am." Sakura couldn't help but posture. She knew that her father did all of this because she liked it. "We can stay after everyone leaves and practice some more. That way, even if you miss a practice, you won't be too far behind. And," she got a sly look on her face, "you'll be doing better than Kiba."

"I'm in!"

And so, that's what they did. Their moves weren't as hard as Teams 8 and 10, What with them having another person, but as they both passed, they got most of the spotlight. Sakura could already see some paparazzi beginning to cross her path a lot more than usual, and that had nothing to do with their practices and everything to do with her beating the Yamanaka heiress and her being on a team with Sasuke becoming common knowledge. Even Naruto was getting attention, not all of it good, but he was. They weren't the only ones to get attention, the teams that passed were also getting a lot more attention. While the heirs were used it it, Ino had told Sakura that it was getting worse for her and Hinata, since Ino had a civilian beat her and Hinata had a branch Clan member beat her, despite Neji's insistence that 'It was fated that she would lose to me.' Sakura didn't put much faith if fate, she liked to think that humans were given free will for a reason.

She and Shikamaru also managed to have a conversation about what happened in the Forest. It was after a long day of training and Gai had left to go see how Lee's was doing in the hospital and Sakura was lying on the ground, unable to move when Shikamaru walked up to her head and looked down at her. Sakura opened her eyes and groaned, flopping an arm over her eyes before peaking it from under it to stare with narrowed eyes at the Nara heir. At his insistence, she forced herself up and followed him to the Nara Forest behind his manor. After Shikamaru decided that they were far enough away from anyone to overhear them, he turned to the pinkette.

"Are we going to talk about what happened in the Forest?" Sakura folded her arms over her chest. "Are you going to explain about how you made the ground move without a jutsu?"

"Are you going to explain how the water was absorbed into your skin and healed your cuts?" Shikamaru fires back before sighing. "Troublesome. I've always been able to do that, but only with earth and wood. No one knows, not even my father, which was hard enough to do."

Sakura smiled, "I can control water too! Well, only sometimes. It's temperamental and doesn't always like to do as I say,but if I'm in danger, it tends to kick in. I can also use the moisture from the air around me to get some water, but that takes a lot more energy." Sakura widened her eyes to empathize her point before sighing. "Great, now I have to tell Kakashi-sensei." She was not looking forward to _that_ conversation.

Shikamaru started, "Why do you have to tell him anything?" His anger was palpable as the ground shook under her.

"Because he can control fire and lightning, just like we can control water and earth." At her explanation, the ground stabilized. "My powers are the real reason why I'm training with Gai-sensei. I need a fighting style that I could incorporate my powers with. Kakashi-sensei did that when he was younger and recommended I do the same." Suddenly realizing who she was talking to she added sternly, "Don't use this against me if we fight each other and I won't do the same."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "I thought that was obvious." Sakura flushed before nodding to herself. "I have a question though."

"Shoot."

"I don't know how to get around Dosu's sound attacks. Plugging my ears won't work, as evidenced by Chōji's fight with him."

Shikamaru closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them and Sakura knew he had a plan. "See if you can put water in the holes of his arm."

Sakura smiled and thanked him before realizing the time as hurriedly made her excuses so she could get some rest for tomorrow. Of course, the next day came with the news that Dosu had attacked Gaara and was nearly killed because of it. He was in a coma in the hospital and therefore, unable to fight Sakura. She was not supposed to fight whoever won between Shikamaru and Temari.

—

"I can't believe today's the day." Sakura looked away from her reflection in the mirror to look at Ino, who was staring at her own reflection. "You know, it's on days like this that I regret chopping my hair off. I mean, look at Hinata and Tenten! Their long hair is gorgeous for this style." She turned her gaze to the other girls and had to give Ino her point. Hinata's hair was in the petite victory curls with dark makeup that made her light eyes pop while Tenten had curled her hair before putting it up in a low ponytail while the front of her hair gave the illusion of having bangs as was curled back, also with dark makeup. Ino's hair, on the other hand was in the candyman curls and Sakura had the suicide roll hairstyle, both girls with light makeup. With dresses and high heels, Sakura had to admit that they looked good. Ino turned her head to meet Sakura's gaze and winked, pulling her glossy lips up in a smile and Sakura went breathless.

The music started and she looked at the monitor in the room as the camera showed the outside of the stadium before panning through the halls underground and going through the open door to the boy's dressing room, where Naruto was standing in front of a long mirror, fixing his suit jacket. " _You know who tells me "no"? You know who tells me "I don't think so"? You know who tells me "no"? Nobody."_ Naruto walked out of the room and was replaced by Neji and Shino, also in suits.

" _You know who tells me "wait"?"_ Neji started, checking his cuffs.

" _You know who tells me "that ain't so great"?"_ Shino added, fixing a scarf that he was able to get around his neck to cover his mouth. Sakura thought it was lucky the mic was attached to his cheek instead of the top of his head like everyone else.

" _You know who tells me "wait?"_ Neji continued before sharing a look with Shino.

" _Nobody."_ They sang together before moving into the hallway where Naruto, Chōji and Kiba were waiting.

" _So, get out of my way."_ The boys intoned as they quickly walked towards the outside before turning towards Neji, who was in the center of the formation.

"' _Specially if you don't have something nicer to say."_ Neji spread his arms festering before they turned to continue walking.

" _Go try to break someone other."_

Ino tapped Sakura on the shoulder, whispering a good luck before the girls left to get into place leaving Sakura alone as Shino sang on screen, " _Go find yourself someone else to smother!"_

" _No, nobody. No!"_

Sakura took her cue, knowing her father was perfectly on schedule. She looked at herself in he vanity, sweater on before intoning, " _You know who tells me "slow"? You know who tells me "that's a no go"? You know who tells me "slow"?_ She peeled off the sweater and put it on the chair as she finished, " _Nobody."_

Walking out of the dressing room, she met up with the girls as well as Shikamaru. He took her hand as he started, " _You know who tells me "quit"? You know who tells me-"_

" _You ain't worth spit!"_ The girls sang along with Shikamaru as he twirled Sakura forward towards outside before continuing solo.

" _You know who tells me "quit"?"_

" _Nobody!"_ By the time Sakura's group finished the word they were at the doors, praying that Naruto's group was at the other side of the arena. Sakura and Shikamaru opened the doors as Neji and Shino opened theirs and everyone finally sang together.

" _So, get out of my way! Find somebody else who gives a fig what you say. Go discipline someone other, last time I checked you were not my mother!"_ As they were singing, they made their way to be center of the arena and got into places.

As one, they leaned back, hips first and shuffled forward as they sang, " _You know who tells me "stop"? You know who tells me"_ Here they stopped and pointed at the crowd, "" _You don't have what it takes and you will never reach the top"!" You know who tells me "stop"? Nobody!"_

Here the teams split off and started swing dancing. Sakura had been dreading the dance break, but Naruto was holding strong. She had thought that he would choke, but it turned out that the crowd was feeding his need for attention. The lift that he kept missing was coming up and although she kept a smile on her face, Sakura's eyes spelled death if he dropped her now. He lifted and threw her and caught her, her legs wrapping around his waist as the first piano rift started and let her arms go and let her torso drop from left to right, before picking herself up and dropped again, this time from right to left as the second piano rift occurred, Naruto's arm holding her steady, before unwinding her legs and kicking back before landing back on the floor flawlessly. Her beaming smile turned real as Naruto led her to where a jōnin put a microphone on a stand and the two began to dance around it until their cue to sing into the microphone came up while everyone continued to dance. " _So get out of my way. Find somebody else who gives a fig what you say. Go discipline someone other. Last time I checked you were not my mother."_

The others danced around them as everyone continued, " _You know who tells me "stop"? You know who tells me "You don't have what it takes and you will never reach the top"?" You know who tells me "stop"?"_

Sakura continued alone, " _Nobody."_

Sakura and Naruto sang together, " _Nobody."_

Everyone continued, " _No, no one tells me no. No one tells me no."_

The boys started, " _No one tells me."_

Then the girls, " _No one tells me._

Back to the boys, " _No one tells me."_

Then the girls, " _No one tells me."_

Finally they finish together, " _No, no, no, no, no, Nobody!"_ The last few notes were overshadowed by the last lifts of Hinata and Ino standing on their teammates shoulders and Tenten sitting on Neji's shoulder while Sakura and Naruto spun away from the microphone to the center of the formation back to back. They held positions for a few seconds as the crowd went wild. The girls dropped to the ground and the genin looked at each other in ecstasy. This was a lot more exhilarating than they thought it would be.

—

By the time everyone was dressed in their regular fighting clothes, they had learned that the proctor had changed from Hayate to Genma Shiranui. Sakura looked at the senbon wielding jōnin with suspicion. She didn't like how it was just announced, like something had happened to Hayate recently. She shook it off as Naruto and Neji started their battle. Neji was going on and on about how fate couldn't change and that's why Naruto will lose before he took off his headband and the bandages on his forehead and began to explain about how the Branch Clan was exploited by the Main Hyūga Clan by putting a seal on every Branch Clan member that causes them excruciating pain and, even in some cases, death. "That is why," Neji concluded, "no one can escape fate. And your fate is to lose to me."

"As if! Carpe diem and all that." Naruto looked uncomfortable with the speech as he looked from Neji to the head of the Hyūga Clan in the audience before looking back at Neji. "My destiny is what I make it. I won't lose to you!"

As Naruto attacked Neji and Neji's chakra flared in response starting the Hyūga famous fighting style, Sakura noticed that every time he hit Naruto, he missed yet, it always seemed like he connected. She narrowed her eyes and watched Neji more closely. The air around him seemed to be more volatile, not seeming to want to hurt both people, but ultimately harming Naruto more than Neji. With a subtle flick of the wrist, Neji had driven Naruto down into the ground, the air around him still whirling, before seeming to disappear in an instant. Sakura shared a look with Shikamaru - they knew that this was not usual of the Gentle Fist style. Sakura had a thought forming and could tell that Shikamaru was already a few steps ahead of her before she was distracted by Naruto shooting yo from the ground and punching Neji hard enough to knock him out. There was silence before a roar of approval came from the crowd.

"Yeah, Naruto! Carpe that diem!" Kiba's voice came through and Sakura laughed along with Ino.

Sakura leaned her head towards her friend, "Do you think he knows what that means?"

The blond shook her head, still laughing. "Think He was just," she smiled secretly, "seizing the day."

—

Sakura was annoyed. First, Sasuke and Kakashi took forever to get there, to the point where she almost had to fight Shikamaru right after his own fight, which wouldn't be fair, but then Gaara decided to go crazy after he got hurt by Sasuke and his siblings took him and left, the Sasuke made the brilliant decision to go after him alone.

Sakura instinctively dispelled the genjutsu that was coming over the crowd. Quickly ducking from a swing, she took Ino and rolled out of the way and into the aisle. Waking up Ino, Sakura told her to wake up anyone who could fight and to help out the civilians and go to the academy just in case. She then woke up Shikamaru, who was sleeping instead of under the genjutsu, and Naruto before reaching Kakashi and telling him that Sasuke went after Gaara, "Like an idiot." Naruto added helpfully.

Kakashi nodded before he got distracted by another attack, "Go, Sakura!"

The three genin jumped out of the stadium before running towards where they last saw Sasuke. They were running for a while before Shikamaru stopped on a branch. Sakura and Naruto stopped ahead of him, looking back at him. "There's people following us."

"How many?" asked Sakura.

"Twelve, thirteen I'm not entirely sure." Shikamaru tilted his head, his eyes on the ground. He nodded to himself. "Leave them to me. I'll make sure they don't follow you."

Sakura met his eyes and purses her lips, not liking her options while Naruto was saying how they wouldn't leave him behind. Sakura appreciated the sentiment, but she knew it was the only option that made sure they would make it to Sasuke. "Okay."

"But Sakura-chan-!"

"Just don't die on us. Ino would be a wreck." Sakura smiled so Shikamaru knew she was joking. She then turned her back to him and started running, Naruto hot on her heels.

Shikamaru watched them run away before reaching in himself where his powers were located. He jumped down and slid one foot in front of the other to get a better stance before yanking his arms up, making a wall of earth between himself and his friends, then he moved the tree branches to block the way, which had the added benefit of giving him more shade. He was panting by the time he was done, and the Suna nin hadn't even caught up to him yet. He turned and got ready for his Clan jutsu to get him out of this mess.

By the time the two had caught up with Sasuke, Kankurō and Shino were fighting because Shino didn't like the fact that Kankurō had refused to fight him. Sakura had rolled her eyes over Shino's pettiness but, let him fight Kankurō if it meant that her and Naruto got to Sasuke first.

When they got there, Gaara was about to kill a downed Sasuke if not for Naruto distracting him so Sakura could grab him and move him out of the way. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She couldn't help but yell at her teammate. "The Suna have sided with Otogakure and are attacking the entire village, but you decided to go after someone who was already unstable and without backup!"

Sasuke flushed a little before muttering that he didn't know that they were attacking, he just thought that Gaara was a coward.

Sakura got an unimpressed look on her face. "Really? _Gaara's_ a coward? The guy who nearly killed two people in a month."

"I wasn't thinking ok?!"

"I know you weren't! That's why I'm mad at you!"

Sasuke was about to say something back but Naruto landed in front of them. "Can you guys stop fighting for, like, two minutes and actually help me fight the transforming person in front of us?"

Sakura and Sasuke blushed and Sasuke made his last chidori while Sakura took out Kubikiribōchō and a water bottle from the scroll and got into position. She opened the water bottle and let the water cover the blade in a thin layer and concentrated to freeze it, since she figured that ice was just frozen water. It wasn't all that smooth, but it was sharp.

By the time the ice formed, she was panting and Sasuke was falling. Catching him, Sakura gently put him down by Temari, who was watching the ongoing fight between Naruto and Gaara, before jumping into the fray. Gaara has already half transformed into _something_ and all Kubikiribōchō could do, despite her flurry of hits, was make a dent in Gaara's sand and the ice shattered, but it annoyed him enough that a sand arm came and grabbed Sakura by the chest and pinned her to a tree, forcing her to drop the sword. Her last thought was that she hoped Naruto would be able to seal it back before anyone came after he beat Gaara, before the pressure on her chest tightened and she fell unconscious.

—

Steady beeping. That was the first thing Sakura heard as she woke up, along with the smell of antiseptic spray. Her thoughts were fuzzy from the lack of oxygen and her throat was sore and dry and she couldn't breath! Why couldn't she breath?! She tried to grasp at whatever was stopping her from breathing, but something on her wrists stopped her. Then, a calm voice came to her ears.

"Calm down. Stop trying to breath on your own, let the machine do it for you." Sakura opened her eyes as someone, probably a nurse if she has a breathing machine, said that she was going to tell the doctor that she was awake and retreating footsteps. Sakura blinked as she was assaulted by white.

"Maa, maa, Sakura-chan, look what you did. You scared the poor nurse. What has she ever done to you?" Kakashi's amused voice met her ears as she looked around the room and spotted her Sensei at her bedside. His smile diminished a little as he continued. "You had two broken ribs, a broken collarbone, dislocated shoulders and a broken wrist. You're lucky that we have some medic nin, otherwise you could never be a ninja again. You have to take it easy for a few days while everything settles, but you're also very lucky that Gaara didn't shatter the bones like he did with Lee."

Sakura stared at him. It was all she could do, she couldn't speak yet as the doctor had yet to come in the room. She thought that he was lucky she couldn't speak, otherwise she… she didn't know what she'd say, but it would be bad. The doctor came in and after an evaluation, she took out the breathing tube. She told Sakura to still take it easy, even after she healed the damage done by the tube.

When the doctor left again, Sakura look at Kakashi and asked what happened. Her stomach dropped when he told her that everything was orchestrated by Orochimaru in order to kill the Sandaime Hokage, which he succeeded to do. Kakashi didn't do too much into detail, as they were now classified by the Godaime Hokage runner up, Danzō Shimura. "And… Naruto and Sasuke?"

"They're fine." Kakashi suddenly looked exasperated. "Naruto saved Gaara with the power friendship!" The sarcasm was palpable and Sakura giggled before regretting it. "Sasuke brought both of you back while Temari brought back Gaara. Turns out, Gaara grew up alone and created like Naruto and through their mutual childhoods, they bonded and now Gaara's a friend."

Sakura shook her head and opened her mouth to say something when Kakashi looked at the door and said, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Hello, Gaara."

Gaara stood in the doorway, looking uncomfortable and was looking off to the hallway before a familiar hand pushed him in the room. Gaara stumbled in before freezing. Kakashi got up and left the room and outside the door a yelp sounded as Naruto was dragged away. Gaara and Sakura looked at anything but each other in an awkward silence before Sakura couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry." Gaara looked shocked at the words that came out of his mouth. He swallowed hard before continuing, "I didn't realize that you were one of Naruto's precious people and I apologize."

"Do you why you're apologizing? Or is it because Naruto told you that it would make him feel better?" Sakura was genuinely curious of his answer.

Gaara rolled the words in his mouth, considering them before he spoke. "I'm apologizing because I feel bad for what I did to you. I shouldn't have let Moth - "he took a deep breath, "Shukaku, talk me into trying to kill you. I actually like you, you interest me. I'm trying to not scare people and kill them first."

"Well, you're doing a great job of it so far." When Gaara looked at her in suspicion, she smiled and patted on the bad next to her and he sat down, too shocked to say anything. "So, tell me about you, Gaara? What do like?"

"...I like cacti. Especially the blooming ones."

Sakura brightened before babbling about how Ino's mom owned a flower shop and how she knew a lot about flowers from Ino and maybe the three of them can get together before he and his siblings leave. She pretended not to notice how he relaxed and got more enthusiastic as the conversation went on and smiled to herself. Gaara noticed, "Why are you smiling?"

"No reason. I'm just glad to make a new friend." Gaara's answering smile was blinding.

—

Sakura had been out of the hospital for three days, which was five days after the Konoha Crush, as the civilians are now calling it. Sakura was told that so many people had liked the Konoha 11's performance so much that they wanted them to sing for the Sandaime's funeral. Naruto opted out, but everyone else was in and while Sakura loved Naruto, she wanted to do something for the fallen Hokage and agreed.

The now Konoha 10, now with the addition of Lee in a wheelchair, were busy nonstop for the three days, with everyone contributing to the lyrics before going to Kizashi and asking him if he could arrange it. Then, all too soon, the day arrived. After the memorial, the 10 walked up to the stage and sat on stools that formed a half circle, microphones in hand. The music started, a slow ballad. Sakura put the microphone to her lips and began, " _Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone. But in my mind I know they will still live on and on."_

" _But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?"_ Ino continued.

" _Oh, it isn't easy, but I'll try."_ Lee sang in a surprisingly high voice.

Sakura, Ino, and Shino sang above the rest while that all sang, " _If you wanted the sky, I would write across the sky in letters that will soar a thousand feet high. To sir, with love."_

Hinata and Kiba started the next verse in sync. " _The time has come for closing books and long last looks must end."_

" _And as I leave I know that I am leaving my best friend._ " Ino and Chōji smiled bittersweetly as they grasped hands.

Tenten took over, " _A friend who taught me right from wrong and weak from strong, that's a lot to learn."_

" _What can I gift you in return?"_ Neji intoned.

" _Oh!"_ Sakura started before everyone sang the chorus one last time, Sakura's voice rising along with Ino's and Shikamaru's.

" _If you wanted the moon, I would try to make a start. But I would rather you let me give my heart. To sir, with love."_

Sakura saw her teammates leave from the back of the courtyard and vowed to talk to them in the morning.

—

"What do you mean they're gone!?"

Sakura stared at Kakashi. He was lying comatose in a hospital bed Naruto and Sasuke apparently gone somewhere without telling her. She listened as she was told that Kakashi had been attacked by Itachi Uchiha and his partner Kisame Hoshigaki, looking for Naruto, who went with Jiraiya to search for the Slug Princess Tsunade so that she could become Hokage. When Sasuke had heard that it was Itachi, he immediately left.

Her hands clenched in fists of rage. She hated being left behind, and they kept doing it! Sakura found herself wandering towards the training grounds in a rage. When she got to one that she thought was empty, she let loose, destroying as much of the training grounds as possible.

"What's wrong with you?" A voice broke through the red haze enough for her to look in the direction it came from. Shikamaru was at the entrance to the training ground, confused as to why the pink haired girl was destroying the field.

"I'm in a rage!" She yelled out. "This is the maddest I've ever been!"

Shikamaru hummed before creating a wall in the entrance of the training ground before shooting a large rock towards Sakura's head. She dodge rolled to the side before grabbing some water from a nearby stream and retaliated. She and Shikamaru shared a dark grin before continuing to blow off steam, never realizing the light eyes of a certain Hyūga was watching from the sky.

A few hours later, Shikamaru was halfheartedly fixing the ground while Sakura put the water back in the stream. She looked over at her partner in crime. "Thank you. I really needed that."

Shikamaru moves the last boulder into place before turning to her. "You about to tell me what you were mad about?"

"I think I can answer that." A haughty voice pierced the air and Neji tumbled out of the sky. He stumbled to a stop and bent his knees for balance. "That… that should have been a better landing." His face burned red as Sakura burst out in laughter and Shikamaru sighed, holding his head.

Neji righted himself before explaining, "Naruto left with Jiraiya to go find Lady Tsunade so that she could become the next Hokage and Sasuke went after him, but only after he found out that his brother was looking for Naruto."

"Thanks for reminding me!" Sakura felt her temper flare before brutally putting it down.

"But that isn't really what you're here for, is it?" Shikamaru said knowingly. "You're here to tell us that you can do this too." To prove his point, Shikamaru levitated a rock from the ground and kept it floating in his hand.

Sakura took his cue and grabbed some water from the stream and kept it moving in a ball above her hand. Neji looked between them before compressing enough air to make a ball and keep it rotating. "Now what?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Now, we wait for Kakashi-sensei, he's fire," she added to Neji and he nodded in understanding. "After, who knows."

—

That night, Sasuke was brought back in critical condition. Sakura assumes that he fought Itachi and lost, because of course he would. She sat at his bedside, hating that she couldn't do anything. She used a little bit of her water healing, but she still wasn't that great at it, and it was less effective than medical jutsu. Now, Konoha needed Tsunade to heal four people instead of just two. _Fuck Itachi._

" **Hey! Watch your mouth**!" Inner snarked, already knowing that this was going to be a bad trend.

 _Oh, like you could talk!_ Sakura couldn't help but snark back, needing a distraction that wasn't Neji attempting to be a better person, Shikamaru groaning about his teammates, or Gaara talking about plants.

"Hey… How is he?" Sakura turned her head to the doorway and there was Ino.

"Same old same old." Sakura smiled bitterly. "I hate not being able to do anything"

"I know, trust me, I know." Ino and Sakura sat there for a few seconds, letting the silence grow before Ino started, "Oh! I almost forgot, Jiraiya and Naruto were able to convince Lady Tsunade to come back. They should be here in a couple of days!"

After Ino's announcement, the days seemed to get shorter until Naruto was back. Then, everything went to hell again. After Tsunade healed up Sasuke and Kakashi, Sasuke went back to his old asshole self, like all their team bonding never happened, and he refused to tell anyone what happened with his brother. This festered until Sasuke and Naruto decided that killing each other on the hospital roof was a good idea. Sakura watched from the sidelines, again, as her boys - no, her teammates - tried to use their strongest attacks on each other. She knew that it was futile, but she started running, trying to get them to stop. Then Kakashi arrived, saving all of their lives.

Naruto tried to apologize, saying that he couldn't stop while Sasuke looked away in shame that he tried to hide, but Sakura didn't care. "Friends aren't supposed to try and kill each other, and neither are teammates. You both could have killed all of us, and the only thing you seem to care about is that you would have killed me, not each other. I - I can't right now."

Tears ran down her face as Sakura ran as far as she could and Naruto and Sasuke didn't come after her. When she became aware of where she was, she was in front of the Hokage Tower. Wiping her eyes, she went inside until she reached a door. When a woman told her to enter, she opened the door at stared with desperation at Tsunade for a few seconds before opening her mouth, "I want you to take me on as your student! Please!"

Tsunade didn't look surprised, she steepled her fingers in front of her face. "And why should I do that?"

"Because I'm tired of my teammates leaving me behind. Naruto and Sasuke are always leaps and bounds ahead of me and every time I think I'm catching up, they just keep going and I'm sick of it. I want to help them in anyway I can, but I can't if they think I can't handle myself." Sakura was out of breath after the triad, but refused to show it.

Tsunade was silent, though her eyes showed interest when she mentioned who her teammates were. "If I do take you on as my apprentice, it will not be easy. You will still be required to train with your team and go on missions as a team. Do you think you can do that?"

Sakura's face hardened with determination. "I know I can."

 **Tsunade's lips broke into a bloodthirsty smile. "Then call me Shishou."**


	13. Changes Galore

**The song used is "How Will I Know" from the 'Glee Cast'**

Chapter 13

Sakura and Shikamaru stood in front of the Hokage's desk, their sensei's on either side of them. Behind the desk sat Tsunade, and behind her was her first student Shizune ("Just Shizune," she had told Sakura when the pinkette has asked) and her pet piglet, Tonton, in her arms.

"Congratulations, to both of you for making chūnin." Tsunade said and smiled at the shocked looks on the now chūnin's faces.

"B-but why?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, sharing a look with the boy. "Shikamaru lost his match and I didn't even get to fight."

"Because Shikamaru showed that he understood that one must retreat in order to live another day. He knew that he could win the match, but it would've left him worse off if the Chūnin Exams continued as planned. And Sakura, Kakashi told me about how you took control of your fellow genin and got them to help the people that needed it the most but still deferred to your superior when needed. You both showed the leadership qualities that Konoha chūnin need. So, again I say, congratulations. You will get your jackets on your way out. You are dismissed."

As they walked outside, flack jackets on, Shikamaru went off with Asuma to celebrate with their team while Sakura and Kakashi walked back to the hospital while Sakura told Kakashi about Neji's air powers. After his fight with Naruto, Sasuke was put back in the hospital because Tsunade had refused to see him until she felt he learned his lesson. Of course, by the time Hey made it to the hospital, they learned that Tsunade had healed him the night before and he was discharged this morning. Kakashi left to find him and Sakura went to Lee's room to see how his physical therapy was coming along, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread all day.

That night, she followed her gut and took a walk around the village and came across Sasuke. "So. You're leaving then." It wasn't a question, she knew it was only a matter of time.

"Don't try to stop me."

"I know that I can't force you to do anything, but I love you. You're my brother and it kills me that you want nothing to do with me. I would ask you to take me with you if I thought it would get me anywhere."

"..."

"But I know that it won't. So go. Go to your misguided mission of vengeance, it won't get you anything other than hatred and loneliness. But I have to at least try." As Sakura started to scream, Sasuke was no longer in front of her and she felt something at her back. She gasped, eyes widening in shock as he pressed a pressure point and she fell unconscious.

The last thing she heard as she fell in his arms was him whispering, "Thank you."

—

She's confused when she's woken up by Kotetsu and Izumo on a bench in the morning, but that quickly morphs to fear and anger. Sasuke left her on a bench! Sure he caught her after he knocked her out, but there are plenty of creepers that could have done something and he didn't even care!

After thanking the two, Sakura quickly made her way to the Hokage Tower and barged in on Tsunade in a meeting with the now former Royal Siblings of Suna. Sakura panted as she took in the scene. Tsunade looked angry at the interruption but before she could speak Sakura cut her off. "I'm so sorry, Hokage-sama, but something happened. It's urgent."

Tsunade grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her out into the hallway. "Well, What is it? I don't have all day."

"Sasuke left! I came across him last night and he knocked me out and left. He went to Orochimaru, I just know it."

"He WHAT?!" Tsunade marched back into her office and called for the ANBU to bring in Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chōji to her office immediately. She turned back towards the Siblings before smiling. "Sorry about that, but something urgent came up. Sakura will take you back to your hotel now. Sakura, meet me here after you've done so." Sakura wanted to argue, but knew it was unwise at the moment and nodded.

After she dropped them off she met up with the boys at the gate. "Sakura-chan! You're coming with us?" Naruto sounded excited and she hated to shut him down.

"No, actually. I have to start my training under Tsunade." Sakura's breath hitched and she launched herself into Naruto's arms. "Be safe okay? I don't want him to hurt you."

Naruto's arms wrapped around her and he promised that he was going to bring Sasuke back. Watching him walk away from her, she promised herself that she would get stronger so that she would never have to see her teammates walk away from her because she was too weak to help them.

She made her way back to Tsunade and the blond put a large scroll on the desk. "Well, let's see what you've got." As Sakura got to work, trying to keep the fish that came out of the scroll alive, Tsunade continued. "I know from your files that you have excellent chakra control, but in order to be my apprentice, simply excellent is not good enough. It needs to be perfect. Those books I gave you after I accepted your request are the very basics of medical ninjutsu. You must be able to think on your feet and come up with new and better ways to do things, even when I tell you you're wrong sometimes. Once you can keep that fish alive for five minutes, then we can get somewhere."

Tsunade worked while Sakura concentrated, but only after Shizune threatened to take away her booze. Sakura was happy that she had something to do, otherwise she would be sick with worry over her friends. By the time word got back that the Sasuke Retrieval Mission was a failure, she had kept the fish alive for three minutes. "That's better than I was expecting on your first day. It seems you're a natural." Tsunade commented as she got up to go to the hospital. "Don't leave here, paperwork still needs to get done. I'll trust that you can at least tell what's more important than the others." At Sakura's nod, she left.

Sakura looked at the massive pile of papers on the desk and groaned, but got to work. She put everything in piles according to ranks before pulling the D-ranks towards her and got to work. After years of reading over her father's business deals, she knew some lingo that could help Konoha in the long run, noting that some marked D-rank should actually be C-rank, but because of the sophisticated wording, it went over people's head. "Tsunade-hime! Whe-where is she?" Shizune tan un before noticing Tsunade was not in her office doing paperwork, but her new apprentice was and her eyes narrowed.

"She's in the hospital, making sure that everyone's ok from trying to bring back Sasuke."

"Oh. Well in that case," Shizune smirked. "How would you like to learn about poisons?"

Sakura smiled, "Very much so."

—

"So. You're leaving too."

A week later, Sakura was once again standing at the gate with Naruto, but this time, he's leaving with Jiraiya. "It's to train in order to get stronger. To bring Sasuke back for you."

"Well, you two aren't going to be the only one's training." Sakura tried to smile. "When you get back, you'll be watching my back for a change."

"I'll be back before you know it!" Naruto held out his arms and Sakura fell into them.

She put her chin on his shoulder. "You know I love you, right? That'll never change."

"I love you too, Sakura-chan, but I'm not in love with you anymore."

"Good." A pause before a small, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Sakura-chan."

He let go and walked away, this time for a long while. Sakura watched him go until she made her way to the special training ground Tsunade made specifically for them. As Tsunade was throwing different types of balls at her student, telling her not to get hit, she couldn't help but think. She wasn't overly shocked at Sasuke going to Orochimaru, especially with that Curse Mark, but Naruto leaving with Jiraiya surprised her. The half formed plan that she made when she met the boy fell away, and in turn a new one started to form. One with her brand new student at the helm.

Stopping her onslaught after a few hours, she brought her apprentice back to her office, along with the other girls from the Konoha 11, now 10. _They just keep losing members._ "I'm giving you an important mission. You must take the former Royal Siblings back home to Suna in one piece. Sakura will be team leader. Any questions? No? Good. You leave in the morning, now everyone else but my apprentice, shoo."

Sakura still stood in front of her while the others left and felt apprehension when she looked at the papers on her shishou's desk. Those were the ones she went over a week ago. "Is there something wrong, Shishou?"

"I'm just curious how a thirteen year old caught onto the subtleties of flowery language when my own secretaries didn't, and they're trained for it."

Sakura straightened her back, letting herself become the corporate heir she was meant to be shine through. "My father taught me all he knew about subtlety and getting what I want while others think that it's their idea since I was able to talk. He still tries to teach me what he can, but I don't have as much time off as I used to."

Tsunade hummed to herself, thoughts swirling in her eyes before she dismissed her student. After Sakura left Shizune walked up to her former teacher. "What are you thinking about?"

"Isn't it odd how the one who wants to be Hokage went with the Spymaster and the one who would do well as a spy went to the Scientist and the one who would be an amazing scientist went to the Hokage? Funny how things happen."

—

"You know," Ino said two days after they left Konoha. "It's weird that they sent a chūnin and three genin to escort you guys home."

"Oh, that's because of Gaara." Kankurō said before he realized what he said. He looked at Gaara in apprehension, which was better than fear, in Sakura's mind.

Gaara sighed at his brother. "He means because I'm a jinchūriki."

"Jinchūriki? What's that?" Tenten wondered. Sakura had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"A jinchūriki are humans that have tailed beasts sealed inside of them." Temari explained. "Gaara has the Ichibi Shukaku inside of him." She hesitated before continuing, "That's why we were afraid of him. We thought he was Shukaku."

"But we know better now, right shaqiq (1)?" Kankurō added, putting an arm around his brother's shoulders.

Sakura tried not to show her shock. She had been wrong about Naruto. Again! She thought he was the Kyuubi, but if the Sand Siblings are to be believed (and why wouldn't they?) then Naruto was like Gaara. Suddenly, him being able to relate and beat Gaara made much more sense, as well as the insane chakra levels he has and what happened on the bridge. She zeroed in on Gaara's hunched shoulders under his brother's weight and grabbed his arm in a hug. "Of course he's not a monster! He's a little cutie pie!" Sakura laughed as Gaara's face turned as red as his hair.

The next few days were filled with Ino and Temari teasing the boys while Sakura, Tenten and Hinata watched for danger. They made it to Suna with no trouble and quickly realized why they were the ones to go on the mission.

"Welcome back my Lords and Lady!" An older man welcomed the siblings as they entered the Kazekage building. "As well as our esteemed guests."

The Konoha nin looked at each other as the siblings became more like their old selves, cold and untouchable. "Thank you, honored Councilman. May someone escort our guests to their quarters? The ones closest to our rooms." Temari spoke, sounding much older than her fifteen years.

The girls were led to their room by a servant, probably, and after Hinata made sure they were alone, Ino started freaking out. "What the hell is going on? Why were they so formal?"

"There's a reason they were called the Royal Siblings, you know. It used to be a monarchy." Sakura raised her eyebrows at Ino and at her impatience, continued. "In Sunagakure, the position of the Kazekage is hereditary, it usually goes to the strongest sibling, who is usually the eldest. But not this generation." Sakura just realized why they were here. "This time, the eldest is not the strongest and is also a girl. The second eldest, although a boy, is still not the strongest. That goes to the youngest, the boy they perceived as a monster for all of his life. The siblings want us to help them."

"That's right." Kankurō said, walking in the room with his siblings.

"Hinata! Why didn't you tell us they were here!" Tenten hissed at the meek girl.

"She couldn't have. Gaara teleported us." Temari smiled reassuringly at Hinata. Sakura liked people getting the shy girl her confidence. "But Sakura's right. Suna was traditionally a harsh patriarchal society. Our father had been moving toward a more equal society, but his Council was not happy. So, right now, they're split three ways. A third want me to be Kazekage, to keep with the tradition of the eldest taking the role. A third want Kankurō, to keep the males in power. And the last third want Gaara as Kazekage since he's the strongest."

"What does that have to do with us?" Ino asked.

"Well…" the Siblings looked at each other nervously. "We were kinda hoping that you could convince them to make Gaara Kazekage?" Temari asked hopefully.

"You want us to get in the middle of a political battle in a different country without any help?" Sakura asked dubiously before her face slacked in understanding. "That's why Tsunade sent us specifically. Tenten and I are heiresses in the civilian world and and Ino and Hinata are heiresses in the shinobi world. Tenten, you're family owns Xìngyùn Automotives, right?" At Tenten's nod, Sakura's voice gets more enthused. "Well, my dad owns Haruno Industries. Tenten and I can focus on the more civilian members while Ino and Hinata work on the shinobi! And," she gasped, "and if we performed for Gaara, thereby showing the people that we support him, maybe we can get them to change their minds!"

The siblings looked relieved. "I like the way you think, Sakura." Kankurō said as Gaara sat as close as possible without it being weird.

So, for the next few days Sakura was trying to butter up the Councilmen until she found one that could work, a young man named Yūra, even though he's not a civilian, wanted Temari as Kazekage. Sakura introduced herself as Tsunade Senju's apprentice and that got her in the door. She mentioned how Temari would be most useful watching over her youngest brother since she's been doing that for so long, it's become second nature to her. "And Kankurō taking control of a village seems like a good idea at first, but he would fail on the diplomatic side of everything. Oh! I have to go."

"Go where?" Yūra seemed a little too comfortable with the thirteen year old for a 25 year old.

"Haven't you heard? The girls of the Konoha 10 are performing!"

—

"Are you sure you want us to do this? I mean, this will be our first time without the guys."

"Tenten, I'm sure you'll do fine." Temari hugged the four before leaving the makeshift tent.

Sakura looked at Hinata, Ino and Tenten. "Are ready? This is acapella and without the boys. This is the first time we're doing anything like this."

After confirmations from Hinata and Tenten, Ino waited until they turned away before taking Sakura's hand. "We got this." She nodded and Sakura smiled back before squeezing her hand and letting her hand drop back to her side. She took a deep breath and followed Ino up to the stage, where four microphones were waiting on stands.

Tenten took a breath and began, " _There's a boy I know he's the one I dream of, ooh-ooh. Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above, mmm."_

As she continued Sakura 'oohed', then jumped in on the last few words, " _Oh, I lose control, can't seem to (get enough, uh-huh)."_

Then Hinata joined in with Sakura, 'oohing' before they joined Tenten at the end, " _When I wake from dreaming, tell me is it (really love, aha)."_

Then Tenten joined Sakura and Hinata while Ino took lead, embellishing where she could. " _(Ooh) How will I know (Don't trust your feelings). How will I (know). (Ooh) How will I know (Love can be deceiving). How will I (know)"_

They harmonized, with Hinata and Ino dropping out in the end of the sentences. " _How will I know (if he really loves me?) I say a prayer (with every) heartbeat. I fall in love (whenever we meet).I'm asking you ('cause you know about these things). How will I know (if he's thinking of me?). I try to phone (but I'm too shy)"_

" _Can't speak,"_ Ino and Hinata sing together.

" _Falling in love (is all bitter sweet). This love is strong (why do I feel weak, oh, wake me)"_ They finished the chorus together.

Tenten took over once again while Sakura took backup, oohing and finishing the line. " _I'm shaking, (Ooh-ooh) I wish I had you (near me now, uh huh)."_

Ino and Hinata joined Sakura as Tenten continued, "( _Said there's no) mistaking (Ooh-ooh), what I feel is (really love) (Aha). Oh, tell me - "_

" _If he loves me,"_ Ino and Hinata started.

" _If he loves me,"_ Sakura and Tenten took over.

" _If he loves me,"_ Ino and Hinata sang again.

" _If he loves me not!"_ Everyone sang, with Tenten embellishing at the end.

" _If he loves me,"_ Ino and Hinata started again.

" _If he loves me,"_ Tenten and Sakura continued.

" _If he loves me,"_ Hinata and Ino took back.

" _If he loves me not!"_ Everyone sang.

" _Oh! How will I know!"_ Ino belted and held out the last note.

The drums started as the other girls sang, Hinata dropping out halfway through, " _How will I know, if he's thinking of me."_

Ino joined, then her and Hinata dropped halfway through, " _I try to phone, (but I'm too shy) - "_

" _Can't speak."_ Ino and Hinata sand together.

Everyone sings while Hinata and Ino stop halfway through the sentences, " _Falling in love (is all bitter sweet). This love is strong (why do I feel weak?)"_

Tenten embellishes, " _How will I know!"_

Sakura, Ino and Hinata finish the chorus while Tenten songs above them. " _How will I know if he really loves me? (How will I know, hey, how will I know). I say a prayer with every heartbeat (How will I know, ooh, how will I know). I fall in love whenever we meet (How will I know, yeah, how will I know). I'm asking you cause you know about these things (How will I know, yeah)."_

" _How will I know!"_ They finish together as the drums dropped out and stepped back turning to look at the Sand Siblings, off to the back of the stage. Gaara was the first one to give them a standing ovation before he had Kankurō escort them away, Temari watching over her youngest brother, while Kankurō tripped while walking towards them. Sakura saw Yūra watching Gaara in consideration, and smiled to herself. Everything was going according to plan.

A few days later, Temari told the Konoha nin the good news. "Gaara's Kazekage! They passed Kankurō and I over! Thank you so much!" Temari hugged them each in turn, too happy to control herself for posterity's sake. "His coronation is in a few days. Gaara would be delighted if you all could attend."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Sakura smiled as Ino squealed about having to go shopping.

—

"Knock knock." Sakura said with a smile as they knocked on the thick wood door that was slightly open, before pushing it open all the way. Gaara stood there in full Kazekage garb, minus the hat. "How does it feel to know you'll be Kazekage in a few hours?"

"Terrifying." Gaara had gotten better at expressing himself, but still hated to show it. "I want to be Kazekage, but the people don't."

Sakura sat in his desk chair, slightly spinning it, making sure her red dress didn't ride up. "Well, it makes sense," at Gaara's slightly betrayed look, she smiled and continued. "You did terrorize them for years. But, they don't know that you're different now. That you actually love the village, and that you would do anything to keep them safe."

"But how can I show - "

Sakura stood up and walked over to him, dragging him into a hug, his sand hesitating before putting a barrier between them. Sakura clung on until it went away again. "Just do what you think is best. They will love you, I guarantee it." She pulled away enough to grasp his upper arms and smiled at his dumbfounded expression, "You'll be fine. I'm always a phone call away if you ever need anything." Sakura looked at the clock on the wall behind him before pulling away for good. "I have to get to the coronation room. I'll see you after."

Sakura left the room and met up with her team in the stands. Kankurō and Temari were already standing by the - Sakura tilted her head. Was that a throne? - throne, she guessed. Soon, the music started, the nobility stood, Sakura and her team included, and Gaara walked down the aisle in the middle. The coronation went by quickly, as there was no Kazekage to speak, a man - an Imam, Sakura learned later - began speaking about how a Kazekage should conduct himself and his people and should protect his people and village from any and all harm. Gaara looked absolutely serious, more serious than a thirteen year old had any right to look, as he vowed to uphold these standards throughout his time as Kazekage. The Imam stepped aside so Temari could place the Kazekage hat on her little brother's head and knelt in front of the throne as Gaara sat, while Kankurō put the Royal rings on Gaara's fingers before also kneeling down, both older siblings showing deferment to their younger brother. The people in the room, knelt to show their acceptance of the new Kazekage.

After the ceremony ended, Sakura and her team snuck to where the Royal Family were standing in the reception room. Sakura put her hands over Gaara's eyes and laughing out a, "Guess who?" Before hugging him from behind. Ino congratulated Gaara, her deep purple dress making her blonde hair glow. Hinata was next, her dress a soft purple making her look ethereal, and Tenten was last her light pink dress that showcased her muscles. Sakura wasn't the only one to notice how the cameras aiming toward the Siblings suddenly went wild the more the Konoha team stayed. The girls left the next day, already spending too long in Suna, but they left with an alliance secured and with their faces on the front page of Suna news.

—

Tsunade put down the tablet, amused beyond belief. Sakura was in front of her, Ino, Hinata and Tenten slightly behind her, all looking nervous, Sakura's left thumb pulling in her ring finger. "Seems you did more than I told you to do. Good." She added when she saw Ino was going to speak. "While any of the siblings would have gotten us an alliance, Gaara was the best bet for Suna in the long run. Now, your teammates are fine and are waiting for you. Sakura, we have training to make up for."

The girls brightened before running out the door while Sakura waited for Tsunade to tell her what to do. For the next few weeks Tsunade had her working on her chakra control until she could do it without thinking too much, as well as telling her the secret to her super strength. Tsunade led her back to her house, Well more like mansion. The Hokage Mansion was magnificent, but Sakura couldn't take it in, she was too busy trying to follow her shishou through the house. Tsunade came to a stop in front of a closed door. "This, my dear apprentice, is where you will be when I teach you super strength." The door opened, and weight training machines were revealed. "What? Did you think all of my strength came from chakra? That would be deadly if I ran out of chakra, wouldn't it?"

Sakura, being very new to weight training but able to lift Kubikiribōchō, was able to lift 50 lbs. Tsunade didn't know whether to be disappointed or not. It was absolutely pathetic, but at least she got her now. Tsunade waited until Sakura felt like she couldn't move a muscle before calling her over to the living room. "You can sleep here tonight. I'm going to teach you something bright and early and it will take all day."

Sakura woke up at six in the morning, wishing she was one of those people that could go back to sleep after they wake up. But then she remembered Tsunade was going to teach her something new! By the time Sakura made it to the living room, Tsunade was already waiting for her. "I'm so sorry, Shishou! I got lost!"

"Don't worry, Sakura. I grew up running around this place, remember? Now, let's get started." Tsunade motioned for Sakura to stand before her, ad when she did so, she said, "What I'm going to teach you is extremely dangerous, Shizune couldn't even do it. Do you know what this is?"

Sakura was silent as she thought about it. Biting her lip, she answered, "The Strength of a Hundred Seal, isn't it? But, Shishou, I'm not ready!"

"You're ready when I say you are, and I say you are. You need to have more confidence in yourself Sakura. You've been perfecting your chakra control for months now, you're ready." Tsunade put her hands on her apprentices shoulders, "Now, recite me the Four Rules of Medical Shinobi."

"First, no medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end." Sakura's heart pounded as Tsunade's soothing chakra guided hers to her forehead. "Second, no medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines." Tsunade started to pull back her chakra. "Third, no medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon." Sakura's control wavered for a second before picking back up. "Fourth, only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws." Sakura gasped as she felt her chakra deplete by seventy five percent, but continued the flow.

"I know," Tsunade sounded sympathetic, "but you have to keep a steady flow of chakra for at least three years without thinking. That is what you'll be working on today."

Sakura nodded and started meditating while Tsunade went to the office. True to Tsunade's word, by the time Sakura was able to send a steady stream of chakra by instinct, the sun was already starting to set. Sakura thought of Kakashi on her way home. She had been so busy training with Tsunade, that she hadn't really seen him, Shikamaru and Neji at all. She sent a clone with letters to each of them to meet at Training Grounds Three at midnight (or seven for Kakashi).

By the time midnight rolled around, all four had gathered. "What is this about?" Shikamaru sounded annoyed that he had to be out past midnight.

"Well, I was thinking that since we all have powers, that we should do stuff together." Sakura sounded hopeful. "I mean, I have a lot of training with Tsunade-shishou and Shizune, but I think that we have these powers for a reason. I don't know why yet, but I'm sure between four geniuses we can figure it out."

"Fine, as long as we don't have to meet at midnight all the time." Shikamaru was the first to agree, likely already knowing why she called them before he even showed up. Neji also agreed, mostly so that he wouldn't have to be around Lee and Gai all the time. Kakashi hesitated though; he was used to working alone and not trusting people much. The last time he trusted people, Sasuke defected and Naruto left, leaving Sakura as the last one standing. He took a deep breath and another leap of faith.

"Okay."

The next few months were filled training with Tsunade and Shizune, recalibrating her body and training needs without decreasing or increasing the chakra flow to the seal, and with missions with Kakashi, Neji and Shikamaru, who Tsunade had put on a mission together once, because there was no one else, and kept putting them together, despite Neji and Shikamaru going on missions with their own teams as well. They had also found the time to train together and found ways to incorporate their powers in their attacks, both subtlety and outright.

Naruto's birthday came and went without too much fuss. Sakura was training in the weight room, already using chakra to help her tired muscles in lifting 80 lbs when she remembered. After safely putting down the weight, she sat there, wondering what the punk was doing. How much stronger was he getting? Was he alright? Thoughts kept running through her mind as she made her way home. "I'm home."

"Oh! Sakura, puedes (3)...Sakura?"

Sakura had walked past her mother, still lost in thought. She thought about how much she changed over the last year or so. She went from a boy obsessed little girl, to the beginnings of a powerful shinobi. Her life got flipped as turned upside down. She wishes sometimes, that she was still that girl, happy, but naive unaware of the dangers the real world has for her. Sakura had an inspiration, picked up a pen that sat in her desk in her room, a pad of paper, and began to write.

—

"You want us to record an album? Are you nuts?" Kiba exclaimed, startled at the words that came out of the pinkett's mouth. The Konoha 10 were sitting at a restaurant waiting for their food and Sakura thought it was the best time to ask.

"I mean, we all had fun the few times we sung together, why not make an album? Besides, my dad had a point when he convinced us to try it the first time. The last thing people think of when they see a celebrity is 'ninja' and vice versa."

"As much as this pains me to say, she has a point. Not a very good one, mind you," Shikamaru added amongst the noise of complaints, "but a point nonetheless."

"Not all of us enjoy the spotlight." Shino pointed out.

Hinata quietly argued, "But we're going to be in it anyway." Her stuttering had gone down since Naruto left, and her father started trusting her more. "Lee's even famous now, ever since the surgery Tsunade performed on him was a success." Neji nodded in agreement. The two cousins have gotten closer since Naruto beat some sense into the boy.

Shino looked outside the restaurant at the paparazzi aiming cameras at them and had to concede her point. Sakura knew that he knew that they couldn't escape it. Being a shinobi was tough in this day and age. The technological advances that came about in the last twenty years alone have made staying in the shadows damn near impossible. "I just think it's better for us to shape how people see us, than for them to attack us the only way they know how."

The rest of them sat in silence while the food came and waited for the waitresses to leave before Tenten brought up what they all were thinking, "But how would we make it work?"

"I thought of that too," Sakura brought out what she wrote last night and put it in the middle of the table. "We could write our own songs. I wrote this last night. It was Naruto's birthday and I was feeling like crap and I needed to let it all out."

"...Sakura…" Ino took the papers and read through them before looking at Sakura, shocked while Chōji grabbed the pages out of her hands and they went around the table. "I didn't know you felt this way. This is deep."

"And good." Shikamaru searched his friends faces before looking down at the papers now in his hands. He sighed before fixing Sakura with a hard stare. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He shook the papers. "If we do this, there's no going back."

Kiba maneuvered his jaw like he was chewing his words. "Carpe diem and all that."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the glare Neji gave Kiba before he pushed the Inuzuka off his chair. "Yeah, carpe that diem."

 **Translations:**

1) Arabic - means brother

2) Chinese - means lucky

3) Spanish - means 'Can you…'


	14. A Nice Little Filler

**The song used is "You Deserve It" from Bandstand, once again. Man, I love that musical. Also, because I couldn't help myself, I made and entire album for them. let me know if you want it.**

Chapter 14

"Absolutely not!"

"But, Papí!"

Kizashi sighed heavily before sitting down at the living room table, Sakura still standing frustrated on the other side of the table. Even though they were trying to mend their relationship (like Sakura calling him and her mom a less formal version of 'Dad' and 'Mom'), they still had their rocky moments. "Because, mi cielo, no one will buy a song like this, not from a thirteen year old. It's a beautiful song, but it's not the right time."

Sakura's mom came in and put her hand on her daughters shoulder. "It'll be okay, mija, you'll see. Oh, by the way," Sakura's mom went by the buffet by the front door and held out a letter to Sakura. "We have another letter from the comé mierda."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she snatched the paper out of her hand. "Naruto isn't a comé mierda." Sakura had to pause because Naruto _was_ a little shit. "Well, he doesn't mean to be," she revised.

"He only writes when Jiraiya needs to send something to Señora Tsunade. That," she raised her eyebrows, "makes him un pedazo de mierda."

"Mámí! You know what? I'm leaving." Sakura walked passed her mom and opened the front door while Kizashi admonished his wife about calling her daughter's friend a piece of shit. Sakura closed the door and made her way to the Hokage Tower. She opened the envelope and only saw a sealed letter addressed to Tsunade. She stopped in the middle of the street, stunned. Naruto usually sent her a letter along with Jiraiya's letter to Tsunade, since they figured that it would be less suspicious for Naruto to send her letters than for Jiraiya to send letters directly to Tsunade.

Something bumped into her and jostled her enough that she dropped the letter. "I'm so sorry!" A male voice spoke, sounding panicked. She looked up and saw Dosu, the boy she was supposed to fight in the Chūnin Exams. A few days after Tsunade healed Kakashi, she had healed Dosu but had kept him in a medical coma until she could figure out what to do with him. The Council has decided to send him to T&I to see what he knew about Orochimaru, which Dosu gave willingly once he heard that his former leader had used Kin and Zaku as sacrifices to bring back the First and Second Hokages. He was then stripped of his genin rank and put under surveillance until the Council deemed him loyal.

Dosu's strangled sound of fear caused Sakura to refocus on him as he took in just who he had run into. He dropped down to pick up the letter and hand it over without looking away. Sakura had mixed feelings about Dosu. Sure, tried to kill Sakura and her friends but he betrayed Orochimaru in the end. Sakura accepted the envelope before taking a deep breath. _If I can accept Gaara, I can accept Dosu._ "How are you?"

Dosu hesitated, looking around before responding. "I'm ok. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for what I let K-Kin and Z-Zaku do." His voice cracked on their names before steeling himself. "I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you." He bowed low, eyesight the floor.

"You don't have to do that." Dosu jerked his head up to look at Sakura. She looked uncomfortable before pulling him upright. "Don't bow, we don't need to give them any more fuel." Sakura nodded to the cameras pointed at them, from regular people and paparazzi alike. "You we're doing your job, I can't fault you for that." Sakura's grip on his arms tightened slightly, careful not to hurt him. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Got it."

Sakura let Dosu go before continuing on to the Hokage Tower to deliver the letter and continue training. Sakura tried not to think about the fact that Naruto didn't want to talk to her anymore, mostly because training with Tsunade was brutal, but Sakura had been able to break a boulder with a punch! And she was now able to lift 120 lbs without chakra. Her medical training was coming along as well. It was hard for her at first, with having to put 75 percent of her chakra to her seal, but she figured out how to keep the flow consistent enough even while using her chakra to do other things. The poison training with Shizune and the training with Kakashi, Neji and Shikamaru also helped her not use up her chakra too much.

The album was coming along as well. After Kizashi got someone who could write the music for the lyrics they all wrote, the songs came together. Hinata surprisingly wrote a song by herself, as did Shikamaru and Kiba. Sakura wrote a different song, this one more "acceptable" as Kizashi would say. Some wrote songs together and everyone agreed that whoever wrote the song got to sing it, or take the solos. And then it came time to record.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, where are they?"

Sakura was looking frantically around her room, uncaring if her new strength tore a cabinet from its hinges. Growling a noise of frustration, she tossed the last basket to the ground and stood in the center of her room. She went into her pack and pulled out a case. She grimaced before opening it and putting on her glasses. They didn't look bad on her, but she didn't really look like herself.

She walked into the recording studio a few minutes late, apologizing profusely. The producer told her not to worry about it and that they were doing Lee and Tenten's song 'You Deserve It' first that day. Sakura nodded and walked into the control room where everyone but Lee and Tenten, who were in the recording booth,were waiting. "Now hold up," Sakura froze in the doorway as Ino took one look at her before putting up her hands. "When did you get glasses?"

The others made a sound of surprise while Sakura answered, "Since just before graduation. I usually wear contacts, but I ran out early. So…" she shrugged helplessly.

"Oh…"

Shikamaru said what everyone was thinking, "But how come no one knew?"

"I don't know, it just didn't seem important." Sakura finally sat down next to Ino while they listened to Tenten and Lee record their parts for an hour until it was their time to go in and record the bridge.

" _I look to my left and look to my right. And see other guys who fight. I'm feeling the rush I'm feeling the high. I'm feeling the rules don't apply. You deserve it, you deserve it! You deserve it, you deserve it!"_

" _Cause when you got the call you stood up proud and tall and you deserve it!"_ Lee and Tenten's voice came through the headphones.

" _You deserve it! You deserve it, yeah! Do do do do do. Do do do do do!"_

" _You deserve it, yeah! Cause when you got the call you stood up proud and tall and you deserve it!"_

" _Ba ba da ba ba, ba ba da ba ba. Do do do do do, wa wa wa!"_ Everyone finished in tandem. They held their breath collectively before the producer gave them the thumbs up. They let a sigh of relief while celebrating finishing the first song they haven't performed.

—

Sakura stared at the Christmas tree in her living room. She knew that Konoha didn't officially celebrate Christmas, but they allowed the immigrants to keep their religion if they do wished. Sakura never asked anyone to celebrate it with her before, as she knew that they celebrated their own things - also, she didn't really have friends growing up except for Ino who only expressed interest over the flowers used. So, she was surprised when Ino and Shikamaru went over to her house, with a Christmas tree, and some mistletoe.

"I was just going to bring the mistletoe," Ino rushed out, "I remember you telling me about it years ago, but I didn't know where my mom should ship them from, so I asked Shikamaru and he said Ame, but wanted to know why I wanted them and I told him it was because of you and he did some research and-"

"And I said that we should at least help you decorate," Shikamaru sounded tired even after cutting Ino's rambling off. Sakura thanked them before putting them to work. Shikamaru complained the entire time, but did his part after Sakura's mom glared him into submission. A few hours later, and the inside of the house was done, including the tree with an angel on top. The three teenagers sat on the couch in front of the tree and Ino rested her head on Sakura's shoulder while Sakura rested hers on Shikamaru's when the doorbell rang.

Sakura groaned and got up before her mom could yell at her to get the door. Tenten was at the door, a notebook in hand, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other and back again. "Hey, can I come in? I didn't want to bother you, but I need help with a song."

"Yeah, sure come on in. Ino and Shikamaru are here, but I can make them leave if you want." Sakura's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. She didn't understand why Tenten was nervous.

"Umm, could you? I'll meet you in your room." Tenten shoot past her and up the stairs before Sakura could ask her what was wrong.

Sakura walked back to the living room and saw Ino and Shikamaru already standing. "We heard." Shikamaru spoke as he pushed Ino passed Sakura. He paused when it was just the two of them, "Let me know if you need anything," he whispered while Ino put her coat on by the door. Sakura nodded, grabbing his hand and squeezing in assurance, before he followed Ino out the door and Sakura ran upstairs to meet up with Tenten.

Sakura quietly shut the door to her room and looked around. Tenten was sitting at the electric keyboard, pressing keys to pass the time. She looked up when she heard the soft sound of the door closing and stood up. "Sorry, I just wanted to see if you could write the music for a song I wrote. I know you did it for your songs, but I don't want it to be a solo song." Tenten bit her lip, "I know I'm asking a lot from you, but I trust you more than the people your father got. Also, I can't stay here too long because Neji, Lee and I are training for the Chūnin Exams in a few weeks." Sakura felt a burst of guilt. She had been training with Neji for months now, and it completely slipped her mind that he wasn't a chūnin yet. She knew from the documents she did for Tsunade that they were coming up, and that after the international disaster the last multinational Chūnin Exams were, that they were going to be Konoha and allies only. Sakura hadn't been in there when the peace treaty was signed between Konoha and Suna - Sound had not been included since no one could find Orochimaru or anyone who was loyal to Sound - but she remembered the smug look on Tsunade's face after she turned away from Gaara and had a feeling that Suna had to pay them back.

Tenten hadn't noticed Sakura's inattention and continued talking. "I could help if you need a bass, but that's it. I know it's last minute and I'm really sorry, but I really red to pass this time."

At Tenten's imploring look, Sakura smiled reassuringly. "No problem Tenten. I know how it goes, just let me know if you pass. I got this."

"Thanks so much, Sakura!"

As Tenten left, Sakura looked from the lyrics to the keyboard. "Well, this shouldn't be too hard."

—

"Why is this so hard!?"

Sakura places her head on the keyboard, careful to not break it when she banged her head against it. She was glad that her parents let her get a soundproofed room when she asked for the keyboard, otherwise her mother would be in here yelling at her to stop that racket.

"Why's what so hard?" At the familiar drawl, Sakura looked at her window and there sat Kakashi.

Sakura squinted a little at him before asking him why he was there. "Well, I was about to help this little old lady cross the street when my Teacher Senses started tingling and wouldn't go away no matter how much I read, so I decided to see what my loyal little student was up to."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she turned back to the keyboard in front of her. "Sure, Kakashi-sensei, sure. But, I'm trying to write music for a song Tenten wrote, but I didn't realize how hard it was to write music for a song you didn't write, and therefore, don't know what it should sound like."

Kakashi had made it into her room and onto her desk chair as she ranted and rolled over to her. He knew that she knew that he lied about helping a little old lady and about his Teacher Senses (capitals essential, he was told). While he wasn't a good enough teacher to have the Senses, he could still tell that Sakura was getting frustrated. It was like an itch in the back of his mind along with Neji's growing anxiety and Shikamaru's wariness. As none of the younger ones showed any signs of knowing his emotions, he thought it was because he mastered his powers already. He thought about what helped him get over his own self hatred and it clicked, but first, he had to deal with the frustrated pinkette. "Do you have a guitar?"

"A what?"

"A guitar."

"...Yeah, it's in the den. Go downstairs and make a left, it's the tan room."

As Kakashi returned with the guitar, Sakura had been able to write another bar and erasing it again before groaning. "This is hopeless."

"No it's not. You know, I once had a mission where I had to pretend to be in a band."

"You did?" Sakura seemed skeptical.

"Yup. So, as your teacher, I am going to help you with the song. Now, I know nothing about writing music, but I'll do what sounds good. Okay?"

Sakura took a breath before smiling slightly, "Okay."

The next two weeks were filled with the two meeting after Sakura's training and getting anything down on paper. Their training with Shikamaru and Neji were also put on hold so that Neji could focus on the Chūnin Exams and Shikamaru could help his teammates get used to the new teammate, a pale boy named Sai. Shikamaru said that Ino liked him, but he also said that was because he called her "Miss. Beautiful". By the time the song was ready, Tenten had only been able to give her vague approval before rushing off with Lee and Neji to the train station where a train would take them out of the village to the first Phase of the Exams.

The next week was relatively peaceful in the village, at least until word came that the Exams had been cancelled because of an unknown event after the second Phase. When Tsunade returned Sakura found out that someone had attacked Gaara and a participant. Tsunade refused to tell her who it was because of confidentiality laws, but she did say that it was someone from another village. Sakura's worry disappeared. She knew that the Suna Siblings had all been made chūnin, since Gaara decided to have his siblings as close to him as possible to make up for lost time.

Sakura followed Tsunade around be hospital like a lovable puppy. "Come on, Shishou! You can't tell me all that and then not tell me who passed! Please?"

Tsunade smiled indulgently at her student as they returned to her office and gave Sakura some medical paperwork that she was too lazy to do. Once she made sure that her office was properly secured, Tsunade sat down and looked over her student, who was sitting on the counter to her right, having ignored the paperwork beside her. "I'll tell you if you do the work without complaining."

As Sakura cheered up and got down from the counter to sit in a stool, Tsunade continued, "Remember, this is all under the table. We can't have civilians knowing that everyone in the Konoha 10 are chūnin, now can we?"

Sakura perked up. "They all passed?!"

"Yup, even the new guy on Team Asuma, Sai. They all showed that they can handle things under pressure and have the skills to be recognized as chūnin."

—

"Congratulations!" Sakura wrapped her arms around Neji's neck, which he allowed for a few seconds before brushing her off with a light air blast. Sakura spun and landed lightly on her feet as Shikamaru rolled his eyes and muttered about how troublesome girls can be before giving Neji a fist bump of congratulations.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the boys interaction before wading into be nearby stream. She had been working on freezing water and manipulating it to still do what she wants; it was proving to be trickier than using mist or fog. She heard the boys start sparring, the ground trembling was a good indication, as they waited for Kakashi to show up - they knew by now to wait a few hours. Sakura took a deep breath as she put her hands in front of her in a large, loose circle before jerking her arms up, ice forming in a circular column under her arms. She looked up at Shikamaru's exclamation and saw a boulder flying towards her. She instinctively shot out a punch and ice covered her fist and shattered the boulder and the ice in one hit.

Sakura looked irritatingly at the lazy genius, her lips pursed. "Really? You're lucky I'm Tsunade's apprentice, otherwise that would've killed me." Shikamaru sheepishly looked away. Sakura looked at Neji next, "Don't think you're off the hook either, mister. You could have blasted the boulder to smithereens instead of just blowing it away." Neji resolutely kept Sakura's gaze, unwilling to give her an inch.

Sakura sighed, she already had to deal with one emotionally stunted teammate, she didn't want to deal with another one. Sakura left the stream and walked to Neji. He shot Shikamaru a look, who then proceeded to work on whatever it was he was working on, (he refused to tell Neji and Sakura until he deemed it safe he said. Sakura had rolled her eyes while Neji looked ready to throttle him and Kakashi patted his head and said not to blow up anything.) When Sakura and Neji were assured of their privacy, Sakura grabbed Neji's hand. She looked up at him, the few inches he had on her made her crane her neck a bit. "Don't do that. Don't shut us out, please?"

Neji dropped his gaze before meeting her eyes again. He was been getting better at opening up to his new team, but he still had his moments. His superiority complex acted up in odd times, forcing him to pull away from them. He squeezed her hand before pulling away, nodding and manipulating a soft breeze to circle Shikamaru in apology. Shikamaru closed his eyes, head tilted back and sighed. Sakura wondered what he felt when this happened, Neji had yet to do that to her, mostly because she stopped whatever fight was going to break out between her two boys.

Neji suddenly turned his head up towards the treetops and that was the only warning the three got before Sakura dodged a fireball while Shikamaru put up a wall and Neji deflected it. Kakashi jumped down from the branch he had been standing on. Sakura looked at her watch, she didn't think they were practicing long enough for Kakashi to be her but sure enough her watch said that they were. "Aww. It's nice to see my new team bonding."

"New team?" Sakura asked as the chūnin made their way over to him.

"Well, unofficially. Shikamaru and Neji are still a part of their teams, but as they do most missions with us…" Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "We're going to have to tell Tsunade eventually but that can wait. Now, I'm going to give the three of you a gift."

"Gift? What gift?" Shikamaru asked warily.

As Kakashi gets out a scroll shock runs through Sakura's body before happiness broke through, a smile breaking out. "Oh my gosh!" A breathless laugh left her mouth as her hand went over her mouth. She gasped, "Oh my gosh! That's your summoning scroll, isn't it?"

"His what now?" Neji's eyebrow shot up. Sakura was distracted enough to feel envious of his talent before her attention was once again on Kakashi.

"His summoning contract. He has a contract with dogs. It's pretty cool." Sakura nodded slightly in response as she looked at Neji in excitement.

"Yes, Sakura, this is my summoning contract. It will soon be yours too." Kakashi threw the scroll up in the air before catching it. "Now, this contract is different than most summoning contracts, because of the nature of the animals. Dogs are extremely loyal, especially to the alpha of their pack, but the beta is just as important. My pack recognizes me as alpha and Pakkun as my beta. Every pack is different and no one can call on another summoner's pack. The beta member of your pack are the only ones that will be able to speak in Common, although you will be able to understand the rest of your pack as well. Your beta will also take less chakra to summon, as they are the most common for you to summon and the one that matches your chakra the most."

"But, why give it to us? Why now?" Shikamaru asked, seemingly against his will.

Kakashi's visible eye darkened for a second before he closed it to smile. "Well, it's to help you. Neji, your anxiety masquerades as superiority complex. Sakura, although you got better at controlling your anger, now you internalize everything while wanting everyone to tell you everything and them not getting it in return. Shikamaru, you seem to have inherited Sakura's short temper and have gained some trust issues. Well, to be fair, you all seem to have trust issues."

At the jōnin's blunt honesty, the other three looked down uncomfortably. Sakura didn't want to hear any of this, she thought that she was handling her emotions well, thank you very much, but apparently she wasn't. She thought back to her mother sitting on her bed forcing Sakura to write feelings on her mirror saying, " _It's okay to feel things, mija, I promise. Otherwise it will destroy you._ " Sakura might know what she was getting at now.

Sakura looked at Neji and Shikamaru, who avoided everyone's eyes like the plague. Sakura risked a glance at Kakashi and wished she could see his face, that helped her with Sasuke and helps her with Neji. She heard Kakashi sigh heavily before continuing, "Okay, maybe bluntness wasn't the way to go, but too late now. And as for why now, well, I was planning on giving it to my team when they all became chūnin, but that couldn't happen for obvious reasons. So then I thought to myself, 'Hey, don't I have another team of recently made chūnin that don't seem to be going anywhere?' 'Wow, you're so right, Me. Aren't I amazing?'"

Sakura opened her mouth in confused disbelief and looked at Neji, who looked slightly disturbed, and Shikamaru, who who seemed to try to make sense of Kakashi's rambling. "...Okay, then…" Sakura said slowly.

"Just think of it as an early Christmas present." Kakashi relented and Sakura lit up.

"Yay! Thanks Kakashi-sensei!"

"So, how do we do this?" Shikamaru butt in, annoyed that it was taking so long.

"First, you have to sign your name in blood along with your fingerprints. Both must have a small bit of your chakra. This is to ensure that no one else can summon in your name if they somehow get your blood. When you're ready, you will do the following hand signs: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, then lastly Ram. If they accept you, then your new beta will appear. They will be with you nonstop for six months in order to properly bond with you. They will also tell you their names. Don't worry," Kakashi eye smiled, "it's harder than it seems."

"That doesn't exactly instill confidence in us." Neji sounded incredulous, and Sakura agreed. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she has no idea how she's going to tell her parents that they will now have a dog for six months.

"Okay, so. We need enough blood to not only sign, but also enough for fingerprints." Shikamaru started.

"Which means, biting won't work." Neji continued.

Sakura rummaged through her weapons pouch and pulled out three senbon. "I think this should work. One for each of us." At the boy's looks, she continued defensively, "So that none of us get anything from each other."

After the boys acquiesced, she took the remaining senbon and pierced her right pointer finger. She looked over and saw Shikamaru do the same while Neji pokes his left pointer finger. "You're left handed?"

Neji nodded at her question and wrote his name. Even his writing was elegant, which Sakura found so unfair. Everything about him was pretty and perfect and it wasn't fair, damnit! Shikamaru went next and his writing was a mixture of cursive and print, but still better than Sakura's writing, which looks like a ten year old did it. She even had to stop halfway because she didn't have enough blood. Once their fingerprints were down Sakura used her healing chakra to heal all but one thumb from each chūnin. After doing the proper hand signs, the three slammed their hands on the floor and puffs of smoke appeared in front of them.

—

"Hey! I'm so happy you came! Everyone else is already here." Sakura hugged Tenten at the front door of her house, Neji and Lee behind her.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world, Sakura-chan!" Lee shoved Tenten out of the way and hugged Sakura tight. Sakura was sure that if it wasn't her training with Tsunade, as the Hokage liked to wrap her arms around Sakura's and squeeze, that she would have passed out. She ushered Lee inside along with Tenten and gave Neji a hug as well, his Doberman puppy trailing after him, who sprinted off in search of the playmates she smelled.

It was a week after their successful summons and Sakura was still getting used to her copper colored fur ball running after her. She made damn well sure that her new puppy was potty trained in as soon as possible. Unlike Neji's Doberman and Shikamaru's Rottweiler, both of which looked purebred, Sakura's puppy looked like a mix. After some research, she found out her big ball of fluff was a Golden Shepherd, a Golden Retriever and German Shepherd mix. She knew that both breeds were not native to the Shinobi continent, but didn't know where they were from exactly (other than a 'German' place, obviously).

She was brought out of her head by Ino, who lightly touched her shoulder, her blonde hair now reaching a few inches past her shoulders in beach waves. Sakura's hair now reached just below her shoulders. She couldn't really pull off a shorter look, considering her hair just decided to start curling recently and refused to not frizz, so she just scrunched her hair and hoped for the best. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sakura smiled reassuringly. "Let's go eat some food."

Before they started eating, Kizashi mentioned that their album got approved and would be released in the new year. Sakura felt more nervous than when she too her genin test. She managed to get some pork and mashed potatoes down before she could make herself sick form overthinking things.

After the meal, the Konoha 10 moved to the den, where a table was set up for dominos. "So, usually we play Riverian Train Dominos. Do you know how to play?" At the unanimous denial that went around the table Kizashi started to explain. "So, usually everyone plays individually, but as you can have up to eight people playing everyone will be on teams…"

Sakura got up while he was explaining about the fichas, or tokens used to show when someone was open, and went into the kitchen to get herself some punch. She bumped into Neji on her way back to the den and almost spilled her punch. "Oh! Sorry!" Sakura laughed nervously.

"It's no big deal."

"Mistletoe!" Kiba's voice broke out. Sakura and Neji both looked up and sure enough, there was a mistletoe hung innocently in the doorframe. "You know the rules!"

Sakura's face turned red. She had never kissed anyone before. At one point she almost kissed Sasuke, but he had to run off for some reason, but she can't lie to herself and say that she never thought about kissing Neji; after all, he was very kissable. A small part of her hoped that her first kiss would be Ino, but she wouldn't mind kissing Neji if he was okay with it. She risked a glance up at his face and saw that he was contemplating it as well, a slight blush on his cheeks. She ignored the others in the room as Neji lowered his voice and asked for permission. Inner took control enough to lightly nod before Sakura pushed her back down, but didn't change the answer.

Neji slowly bent down, his hand on her cheek and pressed his lips to hers and Sakura's eyes fluttered closed. It was nice, more than nice, actually. Her stomach was doing flips and her heart raced. For her first kiss, it wasn't bad. His warmth in front of her made her lightheaded as he opened his mouth slightly and tilted his head to get a better angle. Sakura brought her hand to the side of his neck to better ground herself. They continued for a few more seconds, softly kissing before pulling away, staring at each other.

"Wow." Sakura breathes out, smiling slightly.

"Yeah." Neji agreed just as quietly.

"Well, if you're done, can we get back to this game?" Ino asked sharply, glaring at the two of them. Sakura finally remembered her friends were there and noticed her parents had disappeared.

"Uh, yeah." Sakura looked up at Neji and smiled before sitting down in her chair, her puppy jumping into her lap, and let the game begin, all the while trying to avoid Ino's looks and trying not to think about how kissing Neji made her feel.


	15. New Changes Are Afoot

**I'm so, so, so sorry this took so long. The holidays came up and I went back to school after dropping out after my mom died and started on my thesis again, then my other grandmother passed away on Saturday and we're going through all of her stuff while trying to put a funeral together. Also, I rewrote this chapter like five times and I'm still not completely happy with it, but here you go!**

Chapter 15

Sakura woke up to her puppy licking her face. She laughed and gently pushed her off her chest and onto the bed. For the last few months, Sakura had been teaching her puppy different hand signs so that Sakura would be allowed to go on missions again (Tsunade had pulled her, Neji and Shikamaru off missions until they could get their dogs to listen). Shikamaru was having the hardest time, since his Rottweiler was being extra stubborn most days, while Sakura was blessed with a pup that just wanted her approval, and Neji's was kinda in the middle.

Sakura got out of bed and dressed before going into the backyard with the puppy. Sakura silently told her to sit, and when she did, she gave her a treat. "Okay, now speak."

"Hi!"

"Ahh!" Sakura screamed as a word came out of her dog's mouth instead of a bark. She immediately felt stupid as Kakashi had mentioned that they would speak, but she didn't think it would be so soon. As her puppy jumped at the high pitched noise coming out of Sakura's mouth, she rushed on, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just wasn't expecting you to actually speak!" Sakura could help but smile.

"It's ok! I know you didn't mean it. My name is Layla. It's nice to meet you!" Layla smiled as she spoke, her darker ears twitching.

Sakura giggled. "You're very energetic. And happy. Oh! I'm Sakura."

"Sakura… I like it! And being happy and energetic is my nature!" Layla explained before whining a bit. "Can I move now? I wanna play!"

"Go on." And Layla bolted, running around for a bit before stopping in front of Sakura.

"Let's go find the others, they're fun!" At Sakura's acquiesce, Layla ran to wait by the front door.

Sakura looked sternly at Layla. "Now, will you stay near me at all times, or should I put the halti on you?" Layla looked down before looking back at her alpha. "I thought not." When Kiba had found out that Sakura, Shikamaru and Neji had gotten puppies, he took them aside and made sure that they knew what to do and what not to do with their dogs. One of the first things was that they never get a chest harness for them as it would cause unnecessary harm to their puppies. After seeing him how good he was with Akamaru, Sakura decided to take his advice to heart.

As Layla and Sakura walked to the training grounds, a shout caught their attention. "Sakura!"

Ino was running towards them, her blonde hair bouncing behind her in her ponytail. Sakura felt her face heat up, and stuttered to a stop for her friend to catch up. "Hey, Ino! What's crackalakin'?" As soon as the words left her lips, Sakura closed her eyes and bit her lips closed in utter embarrassment. Oh, God, kill me now. Sakura kept her eyes closed as she opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of something else to say before giving up. "There is nothing I can say to make that any better, is there?"

"No, no there is not." At Ino's laughing tone, Sakura peeked her eyes open to see the blonde smiling down at her. Sakura smiled back and missed what Ino said next.

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

Ino raised an eyebrow, "I asked if you were going to the Hokage Tower."

Sakura blinked in response. "I wasn't planning on it, today's my day off from the hospital so I was going to see if Shikamaru or Neji were free to see if they wanted to play with Layla." Sakura motioned to her puppy so Ino would know who she was talking about. "But you could come join us if you want!" Sakura rushed out, almost getting tongue tied in her rush to get the words out.

Ino smiled before making a face. "I would love to, but since it's my day off from following my father and Ibiki around at T&I, my mom wants me to help her with the flower shop. I see Chōji and Shikamaru around sometime, but we all know that that's where I'm going to end up. Shikamaru will probably take his father's place as Advisor to the Hokage and Chōji… Chōji doesn't like to fight, he never has and the more he trains the less he likes it. I've been trying to get him to do something else he enjoys, but he refuses to listen to me." Ino looked imploringly at her friend as she continued, "Maybe you could talk to Tsunade-sama, see if she can find something else for him to do?"

Sakura couldn't say no, not when Ino was looking at her with her blue eyes looking into her soul. "Of course, Ino. I'll do my best."

"Thanks! You're the best!" Ino beamed before smacking her lips to the pinkette's cheek, nearly making Sakura have a heart attack from the sudden palpitations, before running off to help her mother in the shop. Sakura watched long after her friend was gone from her eyesight, trying to get her heart back under her control.

"Ah. So that's how you get people to do what you want." Sakura gasped and whipped her head around to look at where the voice came from. A boy was sitting on a nearby roof, a sketchpad on his lap. His pale skin and dark hair and eyes reminded her of Sasuke, but that was it. His expression was far more blank than Sasuke could have ever hoped to achieve.

Sakura's eyebrows scrunched in hostile confusion. "Who the hell are you?" She had never seen him before despite him seeming to be a ninja and around her age. She should have met him the the Academy, but could not remember ever seeing him at all.

"The names Sai. I was on the same team as Miss. Beautiful and Fatso during the Chūnin Exams." His black eyes held no light as he jumped down from the roof.

Sakura watched him warily as Layla stood on guard in front of the owner. Sakura knew she should trust him at least a little bit, but his expressionlessness unsettled her. "Ino mentioned you a few times. She said you worked with paintings?" He nodded as something that should have been a smile on anyone else grew on his face, but on him it looked kinda creepy. Sakura resisted the urge to step back and instead stepped forward. "Don't do that."

Sai paused, his brittle smile threatening to fall before tilting his head, not unlike Layla did. Sakura repressed the urge to squeal; she did always like cute things. She was brought back to the present by Sai asking what she meant. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she gathered her thoughts. "Fake smile. If you don't want to smile, then don't." At Sai's slight widening of his eyes, Sakura smiled softly in response. "As a girl, I've mastered the art of he fake smile with how many men tell me to 'just smile.' I get it, okay? Just… don't lie to me about it."

Sai stared silent as Sakura shuffled uncomfortably in place. His smile dropped and looked at her so intensely that Sakura brought her arms up over her chest in a defensive position. "Fine. I'll see you around, Ugly."

Sakura sputtered indignantly as Sai disappeared is a puff of smoke. Layla sneezed as Sakura stared at where Sai stood a moment before. Sakura looked at her before looking back up. "What just happened?"

—

"He called you ugly?" Shikamaru sounded amused as he moved a piece on the Go board. Sakura had decided to see if Shikamaru was up to hang out. So, Sakura and Shikamaru were on his back patio playing Go while Layla and Shikamaru's puppy ran around in the Nara Forest.

"Don't even start, 'Maru. I'm not in the mood." Sakura moved a piece defensively and Shikamaru frowned before moving to take the piece.

"I just find it funny how anyone can think you're ugly." Shikamaru said it like it was a fact. Sakura jerked her head up to look at him. He was still staring at the board, seeming to not care that he made Sakura's world tilt. She felt her face heat up as she ducked her head and haphazardly moved a piece.

Shikamaru grinned and quickly moved a piece. "That aside," he continued, "what are you really here for? It can't just be because of Sai."

Sakura licked her lips and remained silent for a few minutes, hoping to never have to answer the question. After a few snickers from the boy in front of her, Sakura broke. "Okay, you're right. It's about Ino. Does she like me or am I reading too much into it? Back up, does she even talk about me? Because if she doesn't, the hat answers everything, bu-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Shikamaru made his last move, winning the match, before looking up at the pinkette in exasperation. "Ino has been less infuriating than usual and it's because she talks about you instead of giving the rest of us grief. So, instead of making me want to put her in the ground, she just makes me want to slap her. Anything else?"

"But does she like me like me?"

"I'm not even going to give that an answer."

"SHIKAMARU!"

—

"Ugh," Sakura groaned as Layla jumped on the bed to wake her up. "Layla down." At her alpha's stern tone, Layla jumped back down and whined. Sakura remains laying down for a few seconds before she felt a slight soreness in the back of her throat. She shot her eyes open and sat up in bed, "Oh no." She could not afford to be sick. Tsunade told her specifically that healing chakra couldn't be used for the common cold or flu, as everyone needs to build a natural immunity to them.

Sure enough, three days later, Sakura lost her voice from coughing too much. "This is bullshit," she rasped as her mother set a bowl of chicken noodles soup on the TV tray in front of her where she sat on the couch.

"Language, mija."

"Sorry mami." Sakura ducked her head and grabbed the spoon, bringing it to her lips to eat it. A knock at the door forced Sakura's mom to leave her daughter alone. After a brief moment, Hinata came through the door and nervously sat next to the sick girl. "Hey, Hinata. How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Sick." Sakura nodded quickly then let it slow, pursing her lips at the awkward silence that permeated from between the two girls. "So...did you need something?"

Hinata startled and looked back at Sakura from where her gaze had found the floor. "Ah! I'm so sorry! I'm just not used to people actually wanting me to talk, well other than Kiba." Hinata got a slight blush on her cheeks when she mentioned the boy.

"Hinata," Sakura coughed into her shirt before speaking again, her voice breathy from the sudden lack of oxygen. "Sorry, I've been holding that in for a while. But, Hinata, you're my friend. Of course I want you to talk. I mean, I know we don't talk often, but I really care about you."

Hinata got misty eyed and took a shaky breath before collapsing in Sakura's arms when the pinkette opened them to the heiress. "By the way, sorry if I cough over your head, but I'll try not to."

Hinata gave a watery giggle. "You sound horrible by the way."

"Yeah? Well that's because I've been coughing for two days straight. Why do you think I haven't been to rehearsal? I feel better today, but yesterday I was a mess. Just ask Ino."

"Ino came over?" Hinata sounded shocked.

"Yeah, she texted me that she was coming over and I told her no, that I was really sick and she just went "I don't get sick" which it bull, everyone gets sick but-"

"Sakura, it's okay. Really."

Sakura stopped talking and looked at the girl in her arms. "Sorry, I'm just used to explaining myself."

"I get it." Hinata paused before lifting her head from Sakura's chest and noticed that said chest was shiny and slightly sticky. "What...what is on your chest?"

Sakura looked down and frowned. "I'm so sorry, I forgot all about this. It's Vivaporu - sorry, Vicks VapoRub. My mom thinks it can cure anything." Hinata scrunched her eyebrows before shrugging it off. Sakura continued, "Do you want to stay and watch Netflix?"

"Sure."

Three weeks later, Layla was back in the nin dog world and Sakura waited backstage with the rest of the Konoha 10 as they were being introduced by the host of a late night show. She felt a poke on her arm and turned and Kiba was there, his finger out as he poked her arm. "Did you need something?"

Kiba looked up at her face, then back to her bicep before realizing that it was kinda weird and dropped his hand. "Yeah, how did your arms get so hard? And defined?"

Sakura smiled, "What? You didn't think that the super strength was just from chakra did you?"

Kiba looked dumbstruck for a second before getting an awed look on his face. "That is the most badass thing anyone has ever said to me, and I live with my mom."

"Thanks, I guess?"

Sakura looked up as the introduction began and everyone got into place. The song for the show was much more upbeat than most of the other songs, and much more ambitious, with Sakura trying to get the group continental recognition quickly. The music started and Sakura looked up. " _Ya Siete llegó, presente!_ " Sakura laughed, " _Here we go!_ "

" _Let's get loud, let's get loud. Turn the music up, let's do it._ "

Sakura let the others sing before joining in. _"C'mon people, let's get loud. Let's get loud, let's get loud. Turn the music up to hear that sound. Let's get loud, let's get loud. Ain't nobody gotta tell ya what you gotta do."_

The rest of the performance went off without a hitch.

—

Sakura looked up from her secretary desk as various noises came from inside Tsunade's office. The sounds stopped as Tsunade opened the door, "Sakura! Get in here!"

Sakura scrambled from the desk and made her way inside. Tsunade closes the door behind her and ignored the mess her office now was and sat at her desk, groaning. Sakura made her way through the pieces of wood splinters she and glass to stand in front of what was left of the desk, which was barely standing on three and a half legs, papers sliding off onto the floor. "Shishou?"

Tsunade kept her head in her hand for a few more seconds before lifting it up and staring at her apprentice. Tsunade watched as her student shuffled uncomfortably in silence before sighing. "How good is your Mistian?"

"What?"

"There are whispers of a rumor that a rebellion may be growing in Kirigakure. Jiraiya sent me a missive via toad. I need an eyes on the inside that the shinobi won't expect."

"And you chose me?" Sakura knew she was being rude, but felt he situation called for it. After all, she had just been on television a few days prior.

Tsunade sighed again. "Yes, Sakura. I did. The more you entrench yourself into the civilian life, the less likely shinobi are going to remember you exist. Most shinobi don't have cellular phones for instance, not because they don't like them but because they don't know that they exist. Same with how everyone in the shinobi world knows me or Kakashi, but the civilians have no idea who we are. It's the same thought, so I will ask one more time. How good is your Mistian?" Tsunade's voice turned a little darker on her repeated question.

Sakura straightened her back and lifted her chin. "My father made me learn the Six major languages of the continent. It's passable."

Tsunade nodded and licked her lips before she said, "Before you go, you need a way to get in contact with me if anything happens. Your phone won't work, you can't have anything that can reveal your identity with you. So, I'm going to give you a temporary contract with Katsuya, just so you can check in. It will end when you get back to Konoha." At Sakura's gasp of shock, Tsunade smirked. Katsuya was one of the Legendary Summons, along with Manda the Snake King, Gamabunta the Chief Toad as they are the only summons that were able to grant the mythical sage mode. As such, they were incredibly hard to summon on one's own, requiring way more chakra than a normal summons.

"You barely have enough extra chakra to summon her smallest form, so that's what you're going to do today," Tsunade continued, the smirk morphing into an evil smile and Sakura gulped.

—

"So...why are we worrying about a rebellion in Kiri again?"

Sakura looked up from the newspaper she was reading and regarded her companion. Sakura's iconic pink locks were dyed a dark brown to match her companion, along with a fake tan just dark enough to look natural. "It's politics. Konoha needs allies that won't kill anyone that comes in like the Mizukage does. The rebellion seems to be amenable to outsiders, but they don't have the support of the people. They don't know how to use the civilian quarters to their advantage." As evidence, Sakura put the newspaper on he table between them turned it and pushed it towards to other. The headline read 'Rebels Burn Homeless Center'.

Her companion frowned, "Why...why would they burn a homeless center?"

"It was probably an accident. That particular center was near an armory, which was their main objective. The center was an accident. But one the civilians will remember. Tsunade's sending us because we're not too well known in the shinobi world yet and so we can blend in better. Besides, I wanted to see what I looked like with brown hair." Sakura looked at her reflection in her compact. She liked it, but maybe not for her entire hair next time.

"But why me?"

Sakura looked back over at the newly sheared locks on her brown hairs companion. "Because I like you and we never spend time with each other!"

Her companion raised an eyebrow. "So, it had nothing to do with me being able to get us on this train for free?"

Sakura smiled as she leaned back in her seat and looked out the window. "Well, that certainly helps."

The automated voice came through the speaker system and informed them that they would be arriving in the Land of Water soon. The station was a fair bit away from the capital, Mist, but very few civilians were allowed in or out of the capital. Sakura and her companion were informed that they have someone on the inside that is supposed to give them access to the city.

Sakura watched as the station pulled up before her companion spoke again. "But that doesn't explain what I'm here. You may like me, but there are plenty of people who would be better suited for this."

Sakura looked back at them. "You'll see."


	16. Something Strange is Going on

**I'm so sorry again about the delay. Just so you know, this story will never be abandoned, but sometimes life gets in the way. Also, Mistian is Indonesian.**

Chapter 16

"So, my name is Sara and yours is Tiana," Sakura looked at Tenten, whose long hair as out of her iconic buns and was now breast length. Sakura had cut hers again to be just under her shoulders when it was straight. They were waiting outside the city of Mist, or Kabut, in Mistian, waiting on the water surrounding the city.

Tenten looked at her friend and nodded, "I know. This isn't my first infiltration mission, you know."

"Yeah, but it's mine. And we could die if we're caught." Sakura licked her lips and bit her bottom lip in nervousness before looking around. "Where are they? They should've been here by now!"

"Chill, cewek. They'll get here." Tenten tried out the Mistian language before sighing, "Girl doesn't sound as good in Mistian as it does in Konohian."

"That's because that's what you're used to." Sakura and Tenten looked off to the side, where a figure was rowing towards them. "You're lucky I was the one to hear you say that, anyone else would have reported you."

"And you are?" Tenten asked as she slowly lifted her hand to the weapons scroll on her back.

"No one. But our mutual friend paid me to get you into the capital discreetly, so hush and get in the boat." Sakura and Tenten looked at each other before Sakura shrugged and made her way into the boat, Tenten following a step behind.

Sakura accepted the blanket offered her and Tenten followed her lead and put it over their heads as Sakura asked, "You said anyone else would have reported us. Reported us to whom and for what?"

Their guide started rowing once more before they answered. "The Ops Hitam, the Mizukage's elite. They're all over so it's fairly easy to find one. And, probably for discention. Or for being an outsider. Luckily for you, Mr. T made sure that people could vouch for you here before you came."

Tenten looked at Sakura and mouthed, "Mr. T?"

Sakura shrugged in reply before refocusing on their guide. The girls were told that they would be sixteen year old waitresses even though Sakura could barely pass off being her true age of thirteen, considering that she hasn't grown an inch since Naruto left. Sakura but her lip and ignored the flash of pain in her chest at the thought of the blonde. After his last letter, Sakura hadn't heard anything from him. She swallowed before zoning in on what their guide was saying. Apparently, they were taking over the jobs of two girls that ran away last night, in order to avoid suspicion. The guide stopped talking as they got closer to the tunnel they were going to take into the capital, as sound carries, and Sakura and Tenten followed suit. The next half hour was left in silence until the tunnel turned into a river that flowed into the city and they were surrounded by fishermen, coming back from a long day at work.

Their guide dropped them off a few miles later and handed Tenten a piece of paper. "This is the apartment. And remember, you never saw me." Their guide rowed off and was gonnin the mist. Sakura and Tenten looked at each other before making their way to the apartment that they were sharing for the foreseeable future, paid for by Jiraiya. Sakura took in the rundown streets and dilapidated buildings and thought that even the Land If Waves was in better condition, and they were a colony of Mist. Sakura was ready to see if there was anything he and Tenten could do to help the people of Mist.

—

"Thank you, sir and have a pleasant day!" Sakura cheerfully exclaimed as the customer walked out the door and, after checking no one was around, let her company smile drop as she rolled her eyes. She had thought that she was the lucky one when she got the café job and Tenten got the dishwashing job at the local restaurant halfway across the civilian sector, but she was wrong. Sakura liked people well enough, but being groped and flirted with all the time was a nightmare, especially since she couldn't bring it up with her boss. She quickly found out that Mist had no laws against that kind of behavior, which is one of the reasons for the rebellion as she understood.

The leader of the rebellion, Mei, had enticed the women with the promise that they would get retribution, but what that retribution entailed was anyone's guess, but the rumors going on about her were brutal. Sakura shook off her thoughts as the front door opened and smiled. "Welcome to Some Like it Hot, how can I help you today?"

The couple that had just walked in ordered tea and then went to sit down. Sakura surupticially turned on the audio recording device she stuck in the bottom of every seat, just in case. She knew that she and Tenten could not actively get involved with the rebellion, but that didn't mean that they couldn't help out when they can. The other day, the rebellion hit another weapons vault that had a note from Tenten attached to the individual weapons with clear instructions on how to use them. Sakura was leaving leaflets and such around the different sectors, making sure to use the mist for cover. Sakura was brought out of her musings by the couple leaving and after giving a cheerful goodbye, was disappointed to learn nothing new. She pursed her lips before an explosion went off outside, causing Sakura to stumble into the front counter. "What the…"

Sakura stumbled outside the café, breathing in smoke and coughing it back out. She couldn't see, the smoke and debris filled the air made that impossible. She knew she had to get out of the blast zone and to Tenten, but tripped over something when she started to move. She cracked her eyes open and saw a stranger enter the area and upon seeing her, shot a projectile above her and something snapped and crashed into her head, knocking her unconscious.

—

Tenten was worried. She hasn't heard from Sakura since this morning and after hearing about the bombing the Ops Hitam did on the other side of the civilian sector, she was concerned. She wasn't allowed to talk to the customers and her coworkers knew just about as much as she did. Tenten made her way back to their apartment, mind whirling as she tried to figure out what happened. She hoped that Sakura had made it safely back to the apartment, but as she climbed up the stairs and felt unknown chakra in their room, she figured that was not the case.

Tenten took out a small gun from her uniform and crept to her door. She unlocked the door as quietly and quickly as possible before slinking inside. She stopped short as she saw someone sitting at her table, their hands in the air. She turned on the lamp beside the door and saw that the intruder was a boy around her age with short blue hair and dark eyes. She noticed the surprised expression on his face change to slight triumph when he noticed the gun in her hand. "I knew it."

Tenten tightened her grip on the gun at his words. "Knew what?"

"That you were the rebellion's mystery weapons trainer." Tenten felt her jaw twitch as she clenched it. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Chōjūrō, a chūnin in the rebellion. We need your help."

"And why would I help you?"

He swallowed before finally looking away from her. "Can you please turn the gun away. I really don't want to have to hurt a civilian to get my point across."

Tenten slowly lowered the gun, but did not put it down. She didn't trust him, especially since he was a ninja who thought she was a civilian which isn't that surprising. There was a reason she was on a team with Lee and Neji. Neji was a Hyūga prodigy and Lee could not use chakra, so Tenten was put on the team to balance them out. She had just enough chakra to pass the genin test, but any more and it would burn up her nervous system, which were connected to everyone's chakra system. That was why she started using weapons. Releasing her seals took less chakra than a clone, but more than a henge.

Tenten took a step closer. "And why should I help you?"

Chōjūrō smiled, and despite her reluctance, Tenten smiled back. At least, she did until her face froze at his next words.

"We can help you find your cousin."

 _Sakura!_

—

Sakura came to with a giant headache. She tried to move her arms but found they were strapped to whatever she was laying on. When she tried to open her eyes, she found that it was just as dark as when she had them closed. Trying not to panic, she figured that the lights were just off, but a voice made the panic emerge. "Oh, you're awake. I can see you trying to look around, but don't bother. Your retinas are completely destroyed, along with most of your eyes. Luckily for you, your optic nerves are still perfectly functional, otherwise the Master would have killed you."

Sakura's mind was racing, but she couldn't put together a coherent thought. "...Master…?"

"That would be me." Another voice sounded, this one familiar but Sakura couldn't place where she had heard it before. "Really, you should be thanking me. You would've died under all that rubble if I hadn't given the order to take you. You're lucky I knew those pretty green eyes looked so familiar. Don't worry, I'll make sure to give you a very special belated birthday present, Sakura."

Before Sakura could say anything else, a tube was pushed down her throat, making her gag. She felt a pinch in her arm as she continued to struggle against the tube in her throat. She felt her body growing heavy as whatever they injected her with did its job. Her last thought was if Tenten was okay.


	17. A New Place

**I am so, so, so, so sorry that this took so long. I had terrible writer's block for about six months, then I went back to school to get my Master's and then I had writer's block again, so I'm not happy with this chapter, but you deserve an update. But like I said before, I will never give up on this story.**

Chapter 17

Sakura groggily blinked her eyes open. The blackness of the room gave way to light as a whirl vibrated through her head. She squeezed her eyes shut as the brightness was too much before freezing. Flashes of memories ran through her head as she slowly sat up on the cot she was laying on. She blinked more and raised her hand to her face, covering her eyes as she remembered having lost her vision.

A metal creek sounded along with footsteps as Sakura stumbled off the cot and to her feet. She looked up as someone walked in the room. He was looking down at a clipboard before looking up at her.

"You're awake." If he was surprised to see her up, he didn't show it. He placed the clipboard in the slot on the still open door before turning to face her again. His blank face never wavered as he continued. "I hope you like your new eyes. The Master made sure they were installed properly after the last ones died."

At Sakura's aborted movement to her face, he smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. She tried to use her chakra to see what was in her eyes but couldn't.

The man spoke up again. "I see you have found that you cannot use your chakra anymore. The seal we placed on your body stops all chakra that is not required to keep living. Of course," his eyes went to the center of her forehead, "the Master is wise and he realized what you were trying to accomplish and adjusted the seal accordingly. It would be beneficial for you to thank him the next time you see him. In a few days time, you will be brought out of the room to test your new eyes."

Sakura felt a tingle at the base of her neck where she assumed the seal was as she continued to try to grasp her circumstance. Her mind was racing and it was hard to focus on his words as her eyes made a whirring sound inside her head as her eyes were still trying to configure to her brain. Her hands went up to push her hair around but met air. Her hair was gone.

She heard the door close and realized that the man left the room and she was alone. Sakura slowly moved back to the cot and scooted back to the wall, pulled her legs up to her chest and stared blankly out the small window to look at the blue sky.

—

Sakura came out of her stupor three days later, when the door once again opened and two people, entered. She could tell they were guards by the swords on their backs they tried to grab her by the arms but she ducked away from them.

"Hey! Leave me alone!"

One of them caught her stomach in a punch and as she caught her breath, the other finally grabbed her arms in a grapple. Sakura struggled but they held firm as they hauled her out of her room into the hallway. They hallway was lowly lit and looking around, Sakura could see doors on both sides of the hallway. She realized that there were far more people here than she first thought and fell limp in their grasp. She got the feeling that this operation was much bigger than she imagined.

Sakura kept her head as raised as she dared and memorized every turn they took to get to wherever they were taking her. She noticed that after a few turns, the doors seemed to change, becoming more like regular doors than the reinforced doors that kept the prisoners. She had a strong feeling that this is where the staff of whatever this place was, worked.

They entered through a set of double doors and she was thrust into what looked like a training room. She saw that there were multiple training areas in the room. One corner of the room was set up as a weight training area, another was set up as an area like a boxing center - minus the boxing ring - complete with punching bags and training dummies. She looked to the other side of the room and sees a chemical center and as she looked, the other corner shot out a volley of darts. She looked up and above the training area, there was a platform, and even though the obscured plastic that separated her from the people inside, she could faintly see three people in there, watching her.

Sakura looked behind her as the double doors closed and the guards escorted her to the weights area. A voice came from the loudspeakers in the top corners of the room. "Lift as many weights as you can."

Sakura looked back at the platform with a glare and asked, "Why?"

The seal in the back of her neck burned, causing her to gasp and slap her hand to it. She felt a hand push her forward and she barely caught herself before she landed face first on the floor. Very conscious of the eyes watching her every movement, she picked up a ten-pound weight and lifted it no problem.

"Again."

Sakura ground her teeth and dropped it, picking up a twenty-pound weight and again lifts it. Sakura dropped it and picked up a thirty-pound weight before the voice could speak again. She almost dropped it but caught herself before that could happen. However long she was unconscious and trapped in that room took its toll on her. She took a deep breath before moving to pick up a fifty-pound weight and just barely lift it over her head before dropping it, her arms shaking. _What is happening to me? I was able to do this last week?_ , Sakura thought to herself.

As she was being escorted to another corner, she glanced at the box above and tried to pick up more details but could not. She made her way to the dummies and when the voice sounded again to hit the dummy once, she punched it as hard as she could and the dummy almost came off of its stand. She went to punch it again, but a sharp pain flared in the back of her skull and she was locked in place.

The voice sounded once more, "I said once."

She was released from the seal as she was dragged to another corner, this one the blank area with holes in the walls. She waited until she heard a very faint _click_ then dodged out of the way as hundreds of senbon shot out from multiple points in the walls and toward her direction. She kept dodging, a few senbon nicking her over time, as the senbon seemed to never end until, suddenly, they did. She painted as she came to a stop, silently thanking Tsunade's training for being able to keep away a majority of the senbon.

As she was grabbed and led to the chemical corner, she wondered why they were doing this. _Why are they watching me do this? Why do they even WANT me to do this?_ Sakura didn't have an answer.

She stopped in front of the counter and noticed all the beakers and herbs on the counter, none of them lethal or any that could do any physical harm. She glared up at the platform and took a deep breath, "Why am I doing this? What is this for?"

Her voice boomed through the room as her shout echoed, reverberating off the walls. The seal burned in the back of her neck as a response. She gasped in pain and grasped the back of her neck as she continued to glare up at the platform.

She continued glaring as she looked down at the hearts and clumsily grabbed some that she recognized and tried to make a paralyzing poison, however, her shaking hands caused a few vials to break and her lack of experience with poisons was not working in her favor. Sakura scrunched her eyebrows and bit her bottom lip as she tried to do something she had never done before, all the while trying to understand what was going on. She was so focused on making sure her hands stopped shaking that she put in another wrong herb in the potion, and instead of the potion turning the potion into a clear color, it turned a faint green color.

Sakura paused as she held it and glanced up at the platform before taking a breath and setting it down. Before she could move away on her own, she was grasped by her arms and was pulled back. She looks around wildly as she is dragged back, fighting their hold along the way.

"No! Wait! What's going on?"

Her panicked cries went unanswered as she was dragged back to her room and as thrown in, landing on the floor. The door slammed shut with a bang as she looked up from where she lay.


End file.
